asked the Minister for the Environment the bathing beaches on the east coast which were not up to the standards prescribed by the EC in the summer of 1988; the steps he proposes to take to ensure that all such bathing beaches are brought up to the standard required by the EC; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Bathing Beaches Standards.
12.
I presume the Deputy's question relates to compliance with the bathing water quality standards I prescribed in regulations which I made in May 1988, for the purpose of giving effect to the EC directive on the quality of bathing waters. The regulations set standards for 13 parameters and identified 15 bathing areas on the east coast to which the standards apply. The waters at 12 locations achieved full compliance with the quality standards — Clogherhead and Seapoint in Louth; Laytown, Meath; Skerries, Portmarnock, Portrane and Killiney in Dublin; Brittas Bay and Silver Strand in Wicklow; Courtown, Curracloe, and Rosslare Strand in Wexford. In the case of three bathing areas, Donabate, Dollymount and Burrow Beach, Sutton, there were occasional breaches of a small number of parameters which resulted in the overall level of compliance being below that required by the regulations.
Where waters at a bathing area do not comply with the standards, the regulations require the responsible local authority to take the necessary measures, to ensure that the standards are complied with. In this regard, my Department have asked Dublin County Council and Dublin Corporation to investigate the reasons for the failure to achieve full compliance in the case of all parameters at the three areas already mentioned and to indicate the nature of the measures which may be proposed to secure compliance in the future.