Ten years ago, after the worst spate of fish kills in Irish waters, there was a flurry of stern warnings by Ministers that action would be taken to deal with the culprits. Amended legislation on water pollution was brought in, allowing for much higher penalties, and farmers were warned to be on their best behaviour.
Yesterday, in the wake of another series of pollution incidents, the Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, announced an action plan aimed at preventing further fish kills, including the establishment of a mobile emergency response unit - under the direction of the Central Fisheries Board - to deal with major incidents.
The Minister's statement also promised that an Inland Fisheries Forum, representative of the relevant Departments and agencies, would be set up "without delay" to ensure regular co-ordination and information exchange on all water quality issues. It will consult with the "relevant sectors", including farmers and industry.
Anglers and others concerned about the immediate and long term damage done by water pollution may be forgiven if they take the cynical view that this forum sounds like another talking shop. What they want is a firm indication that anyone convicted of causing a major fish kill will be jailed pour encourager les autres.
However, just as nobody has ever served a prison term in the Republic for tax evasion, no farmer - or other water polluter - has yet been jailed for wiping out years of patient work in stocking rivers with trout and other fish. The records show that rarely, if ever, have the courts imposed maximum fines on polluters.
A distinction may be made between the instant damage which is caused when a toxic substance, such as silage effluent, is carelessly discharged into watercourses and the eutrophication (or over-enrichment) of lakes, in particular, by the gradual build-up of nitrate and phosphate fertilisers leaching off nearby agricultural land.
It has been estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency that Irish farmers are spending £25 million per year on excess fertiliser use. Earlier this week, Mr Eamon Gilmore TD (DL), former Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, suggested that a tax should be imposed on fertilisers to discourage over-use.
Mr Gilmore, who represents Dun Laoghaire, does not need to worry about the farming vote; indeed, during the recent general election, his party was portrayed by Fianna Fail as "anti-farmer". But his view that the time has come to impose VAT on fertilisers, in the interest of environmental protection, is shared by the Economic and Social Research Institute.
Yet, whether the pollution of rivers and lakes is caused by silage effluent or fertiliser run-off, it is clear that we are living with the almost inevitable consequences of intensive farming. And it will take more than the adoption of codes of practice, and even the promised review of penalties for fish kills, to deal with this problem.