The report yesterday from the Environmental Protection Agency on the quality of our drinking water is one of the most disturbing reports to appear from a public body in recent years. Drinking water is essential for the continuity of life on our planet. In many parts of the world it is already under severe threat. In regions of the Third World contaminated water is one of the biggest sources of pestilence and disease and especially in major urban centres where there is poor sanitation it is unsafe to drink tap water. Who would ever have thought that the warning "the water is unfit to drink" or "boil all water before drinking" would be messages to be delivered to the heart of rural Ireland?
Yesterday's EPA report reveals that 42 per cent of group water schemes contained coliform bacteria. In addition, it reveals that 8 per cent of public schemes are supplying water that is unfit to drink and that significant numbers of drinking waters are still bacteriologically unfit for human consumption. This is a frightening conclusion and requires urgent action.
The response, however, from the Minister for the Environment and Local Government in the press statement issued through his Department, typically plays down the problem, even though he faces the prospect of being brought to court by the European Commission over the state of this country's drinking water.
In his statement, the Minister said, "The report confirms the fundamentally good quality of Irish drinking water with 92 per cent of public supplies of acceptable standards." The report does nothing of the kind. The reality is that one out of every 12 citizens is being supplied with a public water supply that is unfit for drinking. In his press release, the Minister also downplays the problems in group water schemes by stating that they service "less than 5 per cent of households in the country". People on group water schemes should not be sidelined and treated as a minority. This significant section of rural Ireland has a right to expect the highest and safest standards of drinking water. I know the Minister will tell us about the £420 million being invested in the national development plan to address water quality, which I welcome. However, the issue is urgent and further immediate action should now be taken. The public should be informed about what group water schemes and public water supplies are unfit to drink. Citizens have a right to know if their drinking water is safe for themselves and their families. We need to know what taps are delivering water which is not safe to drink.
I call on the Minister to arrange for the publication of a list of group water schemes where the water is unfit to drink and to publish those sections of the public water supply where it is not safe to drink the water coming from the taps. I also call on him to set out a timetable to bring all the drinking water up to a safe standard. I ask him to take immediate action to identify and urgently address the causes and sources of contamination of drinking water. I ask him to state how and with what speed he intends to respond to yesterday's damning EPA report on drinking water.