Alliance MLAs Stewart Dickson and Connie Egan have urged the Infrastructure Minister to take swift action after the Office for Environmental Protection launched an investigation into sewage discharges by Northern Ireland Water into Belfast Lough.

Mr Dickson, the East Antrim MLA, said: "This investigation is both essential and timely considering that the DAERA Minister has been warning that, without action to end the pollution being pumped into the lough, there is the very real possibility that Belfast Lough could become the next Lough Neagh.

"It's extremely frustrating to see Minister Muir doing all he can to reverse the decline of our water quality whilst his Executive colleagues continue to shirk their responsibilities and dodge the difficult decisions needed. Whether that's Sinn Féin failing to turn the tap off on NI Water pumping raw sewage into our waterways, or the DUP's denial of science and evidence when it comes to the contribution of agriculture to this problem.

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"Minister Muir has already announced that he will soon be asking his Executive colleagues to back his department’s exit from the current regulatory by-ball that prevents NI Water from being held properly responsible for its pollution. This was a key recommendation of the recent review into environmental governance and it's vital that all Executive parties get behind him and start taking their own environmental responsibilities seriously."

North Down MLA Ms Egan said: "Locally, Alliance has been calling for the Infrastructure Minister to green light the vital upgrades needed to Kinnegar Wastewater Treatment Works. The failure to do so, arising from the decision to impose the indefinite deferral of the wider Living with Water Programme, is directly contributing to the continued deterioration of a precious natural habitat, whilst also hampering development and much-needed housing.

"As Minister Muir works to fully hold NI Water to account for sewage pollution, and seeks to introduce legislation to increase fines and fixed penalties for water pollution, people are rightly asking what the Infrastructure Minister is doing to get to grips with this issue."