Vol. 505 No. 6
29 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the pro posals, if any, he has to offer special protection to ground water in view of the fact that up to 30 per cent of samples were found to contain coliform bacteria according to the Environmental Protection Agency report on freshwater quality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14435/99]
The recent report of the Environmental Protection Agency on water quality in Ireland indicates that there was no widespread pollution of particular aquifers in the period 1995-97. Pollution by ammonia and nitrates, for example, was a local, rather than an aquifer-wide, problem. Bacteriological contamination was detected by the presence of faecal coliforms in 34 per cent of samples. The report emphasised the importance of disinfection of drinking water drawn from groundwater sources and the need for better borehole construction techniques and source protection measures in the vicinity of boreholes.
I refer to the reply to Priority Questions Nos. 30 and 32 on 27 April 1999 which outlined a wide range of measures being taken under the rural water programme to address quality deficiencies in group water schemes, including schemes sourced from groundwaters. A total of £28 million has been allocated to the programme in 1999, an increase of £7 million over 1999. In recent days my colleague the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, announced an additional £6 million allocation to county councils in response to excellent progress achieved so far on implementation of this year's programme. In addition, the Minister launched a step-by-step guide to local authorities on the development of strategic rural water plans for their counties. The objective will be to rationalise and improve the quality of water supply to rural communities. My Department and the local authorities are committed to working in close co-operation with the private group scheme sector to ensure that the deficiencies identified in recent EPA reports are tackled in a properly planned and efficient manner.
Additional protection is provided for groundwaters by regulations which I made in February this year to control discharges to aquifers by sanitary authorities. Guidelines were also issued to local authorities in May to develop groundwater protection schemes to assist decision-making in relation to land-use planning and related matters. These schemes provide a systematic framework for the incorporation of groundwater protection considerations into decision making by planning and regulatory authorities.
