Debate contribution: Independent Environmental Protection Agency: Establishment

Debate contribution by Mr Mark Durkan on 10 November 2025.

MLA

Mr Mark Durkan

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

10 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Independent Environmental Protection Agency: Establishment

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5225340

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I just hope that my colleague does not whip my skirt off.

I am covered at least. In closing today's debate, I will reflect on our storied landscape. Miss McIlveen expressed unhappiness about the continual reference to Lough Neagh. Although every hill and lough here holds a tale, when we speak about Lough Neagh, we are speaking not just about a body of water but about a place that is woven into our mythology and the very sense of our identity. Fishermen swore by its waters. Storytellers spoke of wood turned to stone. Communities drew life and livelihood from it shores. Although we now understand those myths in a different light, their meaning holds true. Generations that came before recognised something that many of us seem to have forgotten, which is that our well-being and the land's well-being are interlinked. What was once a symbol of vitality has become a mirror of our failures. The suffocating green expanse that chokes the life from its waters is a physical manifestation of years of neglect, delay and dysfunction. Perhaps that is why the DUP does not like its being mentioned. From what we have heard today and seen over the past few years in particular, it is clear that environmental governance in Northern Ireland is not working. The independent review of environmental governance laid it bare: from the devastation of Lough Neagh to the illegal dump at Mobuoy, we are facing a failure of accountability, enforcement and leadership at the core. Review after review has stated the same thing, which is that we need an independent environmental protection agency that is properly resourced, fully empowered and free from political interference. Every Executive party, including the DUP, signed up to that commitment in the New Decade, New Approach agreement. Five years on, however, we are still waiting. That is another NDNA commitment that has been neither delivered on nor achieved. We are not blaming the Minister. We are willing him to maximise the majority support that now exists in the Assembly — I expect it to manifest itself again today — and in the Executive, which did not exist when I was Minister. The Minister has been clear that he wants to deliver an independent EPA. Although we of course welcome and support that, there are just 18 months left in the mandate. If we fail to legislate now, this term will end with nothing to show for it but more environmental decline and public frustration. People have lost trust. Their warnings have been ignored while sewage spills and pollution are met with shrugs of indifference. That begs the question: who is protecting our environment? The answer, sadly, is that no one is protecting it very effectively. In recognition of that frustration, I have a private Member's Bill that seeks to introduce legally binding and measurable targets for air, water and soil quality and biodiversity. That is yet another recommendation of the independent review that has not been implemented. Successive Executives and AERA Ministers have been unable — I am not going to say "unwilling" or that anyone has failed — to treat the issue with the seriousness that it deserves. We were the last part of these islands to put in place climate legislation. That delay has seen biodiversity destroyed, with many indigenous animals and plants at risk of extinction, as Miss McAllister said. That is not hyperbole but reality. Northern Ireland currently ranks as the twelfth-worst country globally for biodiversity loss. We cannot protect what we do not measure, and we cannot recover what we refuse to count. Meanwhile, as the only region across these islands without an independent EPA, we remain an outlier. The other EPAs have been in place for decades. I therefore do not know how the DUP can justify its concerns when the other regions of the UK, all of which have an independent EPA, have better environmental outcomes. Tom Buchanan fears that the proposed new agency will increase bureaucracy but then lamented bureaucracy and failures in the existing arrangements.

We have seen the toxic consequences of what our existing environmental protection looks like. Lough Neagh is the most visible example, but it is not the only one. I mentioned the damage that has been inflicted at Mobuoy, which risks costing hundreds of millions of pounds to clean up, yet those responsible will walk away with barely a slap on the wrist. Miss McAllister gave much smaller, everyday examples of the inherent weaknesses in the current system. There are always bigger fish — or fish kills — to fry. We need radical reform of environmental oversight, clear accountability, proper penalties and an independent regulator with the resources and teeth to act. That is in no way a criticism — I certainly hope that it is not construed as one — of the individuals who are working in the NIEA. Their expertise and enthusiasm are shackled by the system in which they have to operate. The Minister has said that establishing an EPA will require resources. I know that we are still at an early stage in the process, but I would like to know how much that might cost. If the costings were done 10 years ago, we can only expect them to have gone up, but the cost of inaction will undoubtedly still be much greater. Miss McIlveen cited resources as a reason for not establishing an independent environmental protection agency. We do not envisage it as being an addition to the environmental protection function of NIEA but a replacement of it. Until we change the system, incidents such as Mobuoy will keep repeating. That is why we in the SDLP are calling for the delivery of an independent environmental protection agency before the end of the mandate. Any delay is another missed opportunity and another looming crisis.

Certainly. Quickly.

I agree with the Minister. We are nearly on the same page on the subject. That was demonstrated by the fact that, on that very subject, we tabled a motion today, and you made a statement in the House last week. Coincidence, I am sure. A strong and independent EPA can rebuild public confidence and restore our natural assets. It can help us meet our climate commitments and coordinate with our counterparts in the Irish Government. It is ludicrous that the protections that exist in the South simply stop at a line on a map — a point that Ms Finnegan made. The agency should, and will, eventually, operate on an all-island basis, but I do not want to give the DUP another reason to oppose its establishment. Pollution of the air, water and land does not recognise borders. Collaboration is key if we are to deal with the environmental crisis effectively. We need a model that puts environmental protection at the heart of decision-making. It should not be an afterthought. Let us not be remembered as the Assembly that fiddled while Lough Neagh died. Let us be the one that chose to act and confront one of the greatest challenges of our time. Mr Blair mentioned COP30, which kicked off today. The mood music emanating from COP30 is very different from the optimism of 10 years ago in Paris at COP21, at which I had privilege of representing Northern Ireland, the Assembly and the Executive. It is not a case of good COP, bad COP, but future generations will look back on this time through the lens of history. Let them see courage, not complacency. Their prosperity and health depend on the choices that we make today. Let us get on with it.

1,273 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:45 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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