Eco Eye

Drinking water in Ireland, Public rights and Industry, Environmental Research (5x10)

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Drinking water in Ireland Duncan looks into the quality of drinking water in Ireland and finds out more about Cryptosporidium. He chats with Darragh Page of the EPA who explains exactly what this is. One of the main issues when it comes to drinking water in Ireland today is that we don't know whether our water is of as high a standard as we would expect. We look at the various different tests that are carried out at laboratories to monitor the quality of drinking water in Ireland, while Tania chats to members of the public on their views about drinking water in Ireland. Public rights and Industry Duncan visits one of Ireland's most polluted industrial sites at Haulbowline Island in Cork. The old Irish Steel works is reminiscent of dirty industries of the past that were allowed to operate with poor standards and little control. Duncan talks Paddy Nolan about the modern licensing system to prevent industrial pollution like this happening again. He also talks to Kieran O'Brien from EPA Office of Enforcement about what happens when things go wrong in industry and what role the public have acting as the eyes on the ground. Environmental Research Duncan explores the future of our environment -- technology. We have smart cars and smart phones, so why not a smart environment? Duncan gets his white coat on and visits the labs of Tyndall National Institute in Cork, who are part of an exciting project called Smart Coast. This sensor wireless technology has the potential to monitor our water quality and relay this information to the public in real time. Farmers and Forestry Duncan travels to Donegal and meets with a local farmer John Jackson to talk about the recently announced Forestry Environmental Protection Scheme (FEPS), which accommodates farmers already in the REPS scheme to allocate some of their land to forestry. Duncan looks at the benefits and results of farmers getting into forestry, such as wood chipping and follows where the farmers produce such as woodchip is use