Deputy Creed has given me notice of his intention to raise the matter of the public declaration by Macroom Urban District Council that the town water supply is unfit for human consumption and the failure of the Department of the Environment to sanction approval for a new town water supply scheme.
Adjournment Debate. - Macroom (Cork) Water Supply Scheme.
I thank you, Sir, for allowing me to raise this matter and I also thank the Minister for coming into the House to reply.
As the Minister is undoubtedly aware, during last week Macroom Urban District Council was obliged to notify residents in Macroom who avail of the town's public water supply that the water quality was such as to render it unsuitable for human consumption. That was the latest and most serious development in the sorry saga which has been going on for a number of years. I would like to pay tribute to the staff and members of Macroom Urban District Council for the manner in which they handled the most recent incident. By and large, they have been the unfair targets of much of the local public odium which should be directly refocused on the Department of the Environment for its failure to sanction the improvement scheme which has been with the Department for more than two years.
Last week's incident aside, the reality is that for each of the past two years the town council has had to notify the Department of the Environment of its failure to meet an EC directive on the quality of drinking water and at the same time the Department failed to sanction approval for the Macroom water supply improvement scheme. As I stated already, proposals for the scheme have been awaiting approval by the Department for more than two years while the health and welfare of residents in Macroom are being put in jeopardy. On my behalf, on behalf of Macroom Urban District Council and, more importantly, on behalf of all those forced to accept a substandard water supply — many of whom, at considerable inconvenience, have stopped using their domestic supply in favour of alternative sources — I appeal to the Minister to give immediate approval to the council to proceed with the new scheme.
In making this case I would like to refer to the continuing cost which Macroom Urban District Council is forced to carry due to the failure of the Department to give immediate sanction for the scheme. Stop-gap measures to hold together the antiquated system is costing the urban council approximately £20,000 per annum. Also, significant costs were incurred in the planning of the new water supply scheme which overall results in a total cost to Macroom Urban District Council of approximately £250,000. It is about time the Department recognised that a small urban district council such as Macroom can no longer afford to carry such overheads. Major efforts have been made, spearheaded by and large by Macroom Urban District Council, to improve its public image in order to attract new industry and an inadequate water supply is a shortcoming we can do without. The solution to the problem rests solely with the officials of the Department of the Environment who must answer to the people in the locality of Macroom.
I understand that my constituency colleague, Deputy Moynihan and members of the urban district council, for the third time, sought a meeting with the Minister in regard to this matter. We have waited long enough. Macroom Urban District Council have been waiting for some time for a bypass of the town and for improvements in our urban road grant. We feel a much forgotten urban district council when it comes to financial allocations from the Department of the Environment. The launch of the National Development Plan, which was announced to the sound of great trumpets in the past 24 hours, rings very hollow in Macroom when for years we have failed to get a brown penny from the Department for an urban water supply scheme. We do not want any quick fixes in respect of this matter. We want approval for the scheme, the proposals of which have been with the Minister's Department for the last two years, and nothing less will be acceptable to my constituency colleagues, members of the urban district council or myself.
(Wexford): I am aware of the recent urgent problem affecting the Macroom public water supply. Drinking water quality is a major priority of the Government's environment action programme. We are committed to achieving compliance with stringent EC drinking water standards in all areas of the country and we have intensified a programme of capital investment and of environmental monitoring to this end.
I understand that the emergency measures recently taken by Macroom Urban District Council were on a precautionary basis to ensure that the public would not consume water which might be bacteriologically unsound. I have been assured that immediate steps were taken at local level to alleviate and remedy the situation in line with the procedures set out in the Guidelines for the Protection of Drinking Water Supplies, which were issued to sanitary authorities by my Department in December 1992. Householders were notified to boil all water before use; alternative water supplies were made available to those affected; monitoring and analysis of the supply was intensified and is being continued; and public notices were issued to the media to alert householders about what action they should take.
I understand that following on from the actions of the sanitary authority in implementing remedial measures at the water intake, an improvement in the quality of the water being made available to consumers was achieved. This resulted in the "Notice to Boil" being withdrawn on Friday last and the local authority consider that water quality has continued to be satisfactory since then. The Deputy will appreciate that immediate responsibility for managing last week's urgent situation rests with the local authority and that it would not be appropriate for me to comment on details of that situation at this stage.
Tender proposals for the Macroom water supply improvement scheme are with my Department. Water supply and sewerage schemes are now being prioritized for inclusion in the post 1993 operational programme in the context of the next round of Structural Funds. In relation to water supply schemes, priority in the shorter-term has to be given to schemes to alleviate significant and constant quality problems. The requirements of Macroom will be considered in this context.
Finally, I am conscious that any scheme that might be approved will take some time to implement. Accordingly, officials in my Department have been in contact with the local authority with a view to exploring any short-term measures that might help in ensuring that the recent problems do not recur.
I can assure the Deputy that efforts will continue to achieve a solution to this problem.
Deputy Dermot Ahern has given me notice of his intention to raise a matter regarding a new school premises at Scoil Chríost Rí, Dundalk, County Louth. I granted permission to the Deputy, but I do not observe his presence in the House. Therefore, I will proceed with the next question.