§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his letter of 14 November, if he will make a statement on his Department's co-operation with Irish colleagues to identify appropriate research to be undertaken on nutrient inputs and algae blooms in the Irish sea. [10855]
§ Mr. ClappisonMy Department has been working on these issues with Irish colleagues for a number of years. In conjunction with the Environment and Marine Departments of the Irish Republic, the Department of the Environment, together with the Departments for Agriculture and for the Environment in Northern Ireland, funded a three-year project to review research and monitoring in the Irish sea, under an Irish sea science co-ordinator. The third report was published in 1995 and identified priorities for research on the Irish sea, including nutrient inputs and the extent to which algal populations may be affected by human-derived nutrient enrichment. Officials from both countries have met to discuss the co-ordination of work on these topics within their respective research programmes.
As part of the "Quality Status Report", being prepared by 2000 for the whole of the north-east Atlantic under the auspices of the Oslo and Paris Commission, the Irish Republic and the UK are jointly responsible for the section dealing with the Celtic seas, including the Irish sea. This will comprise a compilation of current knowledge about the area, an evaluation of the information to agreed criteria of environmental quality and a statement on the prevailing conditions of the area, including its marine chemistry and biology. This work will further inform future research programmes in both countries.