Alan M. Dukes
Question:27 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for the Environment whether he will publish the report or reports on the contamination of the public water supply in Naas, County Kildare in October/ November 1991.
Written Answers. - Naas (Kildare) Water Contamination Contamination.
Tom Enright
Question:49 Mr. Enright asked the Minister for the Environment whether his Department have produced a report on the contamination of the public water supply in Naas, County Kildare in October/ November 1991; and, if so, whether he will publish that report.
Paul McGrath
Question:55 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment if, in the last three years, his Department received any application from Naas Urban District Council or from Kildare County Council for funds to carry out works to augment the public water supply to Naas, County Kildare.
Alan M. Dukes
Question:69 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for the Environment if he or his Department apply any general guidelines in relation to the publication of reports by local authorities and sanitary authorities on incidents of pollution or of contamination of public water supplies.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 27, 49, 55 and 69 together.
I refer to the reply to Question No. 354 of 29 January 1992 in which I set out fully my response to the Naas water contamination incident, following on my receipt of a detailed report from the Kildare county manager and a meeting with local interests.
The report referred to was requested so as to assist me in my wider responsibility of ensuring the adequacy of national guidelines for the protection of drinking water. I have already announced my intention of revising these guidelines in the light of the Naas incident and of consulting local authority and consumer interests on their preparation.
There are well established arrangements in local government law and practice regarding the provision of information by local authorities. It would be inappropriate, in view of these, for the Minister for the Environment directly to procure the publication of a local authority report.
Full national reporting of drinking water quality has now been established, and the results are being compiled and published annually by the environmental research unit. The first such report, entitled Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland— a preliminary report for the year 1989 — is available in the Oireachtas Library and contains a national assessment of quality, as well as details for each county of all reported exceedances of the prescribed quality standards.
While there is not a legal requirement on sanitary authorities to publish reports on contamination of public water supplies, the action to be taken where a supply does not meet the statutory requirements is clearly set out in article 8 of the Drinking Water Regulations. This includes an obligation on sanitary authorities to warn users of a water supply where there is an unacceptable risk to public health. In order to assess that risk, sanitary authorities are advised by my Department to consult the director of community care/medical officer of health, who will decide on the need to warn users and advise on measures necessary to minimise health risks.
My Department have not received proposals over the last three years for the augmentation, as such, of the Naas water supply. An application was received under the small schemes programme for 1991 for a grant to finance pumps and related equipment which had already been installed on the Sunday's Well source. This application was not granted.