asked the Minister for the Environment if he will arrange to have a survey carried out of the effluent levels of the entire lower Cork harbour area, with particular reference to East Ferry, Midleton, County Cork.
Written Answers. - Cork Harbour Survey.
106.
Monitoring of water quality is primarily a matter for the local authority. However, because of public concern about the environmental implications of Cork harbour's special position as an industrial base, my Department requested the Environmental Research Unit earlier this year to prepare a position report on water quality there. The report will be based on existing information as generated by local authorities, university surveys, AFF/ERU surveys, etc. It will summarise the available information, assess its significance in relation to water quality and identify any gaps in the information base which need to be filled. This report should be completed before the end of the year and the scope and extent of monitoring in the harbour area will then be reviewed in the light of the report.
In relation to the East Ferry area, a detailed monitoring programme is being carried out by the ERU, Cork County Council and the Department of the Marine to determine whether significant changes occur in water quality as a result of discharges, from the recently-commissioned Midleton sewerage scheme, at Rathcoursey Point.