To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to outline the progress being made in implementing the Lough Neagh Action Plan.

Mr Muir

Of the 37 actions in the plan, 23 have been delivered, and 14 are actively progressing. I remain committed to driving forward the delivery of the remaining actions at pace. Progress to date reflects coordinated efforts across key themes, including scientific research; enhanced monitoring and enforcement; education and stakeholder engagement; regulatory reform; and strategic communications. Consultation on an updated nutrients action programme concludes today. There is also £49 million of funding from the Shared Island Fund to support farmers with nature-based solutions. I am doing all that I can to improve water quality, but tough decisions are needed to secure investment in waste water. I still await approval from the Executive in relation to stronger regulation of and enforcement in sewage pollution. Whilst important strides have been made, it is important to recognise that the recovery of the lough requires sustained, long-term action and leadership in taking those difficult decisions, which I am looking for.

Mr Muir

Thank you, David. Last month, I requested and had a meeting with the Earl of Shaftesbury to discuss the ownership of the bed and soil of Lough Neagh. The option for the transfer of the bed and soil, without charge, to public ownership was discussed. Community ownership was noted as presenting significant challenges, given the scale of the lough and the range of interests within the catchment, but it was also recognised that it should not be ruled out as a long-term goal. As we know, Lough Neagh is also of strategic importance to drinking water security, and, naturally, that must influence future ownership and governance arrangements. I have written to the Infrastructure Minister today to request a meeting about transferring the bed and soil of Lough Neagh to Waterways Ireland, NI Water or the Department for Infrastructure. This is an important opportunity, and I hope that it can be seized.

Mr K Buchanan

Minister, in your answer, you referred to how you are doing all that you can on water quality. In May, in a constituency beside mine, six to 10 sheep, one calf and 20 to 30 lambs were dumped in a river. No farmer dumps animals in a river, so, in my eyes, whoever did that is not a farmer. Those animals are still in that river, affecting both it and a river that flows through my constituency and goes into Lough Neagh. Therefore, you are not doing all that you can for water quality, because those animals are still in that river and polluting it. What will you do to address that issue?

Mr Muir

We all, including you, have a responsibility to encourage anyone who has any information associated with that crime to report it so that we can bring the offenders to justice, because it is wrong and deplorable. I have asked officials to consider what more we can do to have a coordinated response to that, and they are taking forward work on a wider coordinated response. Ultimately, a crime has been committed. Someone is culpable, and the veil of secrecy needs to end. People need to report it to the official agencies to ensure that the guilty person goes in front of a court.

Mr McGlone

Minister, this year again, we have seen the proliferation of blue-green algae on the lough. What measures are being or have been put in place to monitor the effectiveness or otherwise of the action that your Department has taken?

Mr Muir

Thank you, Patsy. A range of monitoring takes place on the lough. There is a dashboard available so that people can see that, and it is important that people have access to that information. Fundamentally, however, we need to address the pollution. That is why we have gone out to consult on a revised nutrients action programme, and it is why I seek enhanced regulation and enforcement against sewage pollution, which will end the bye ball that has wrongly been afforded to NI Water. Alongside that, we need to have stronger fines and penalties. I am progressing the legislation, but we also need an independent environmental protection agency. As you know, that has been vetoed by one party. It is a shining example of why there must be reform of the institutions. It is an affront to democracy that an independent environmental protection agency cannot proceed because one party does not like it.

Mr Speaker

We move on to topical questions.