Vol. 513 No. 5
60 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans, if any, he has to introduce a national monitoring programme for cyanobacteria and their toxins in view of the health implications of toxins produced by these bacteria particularly relating to enriched water bodies used for drinking water supplies and recreational purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2931/00]
Statutory responsibility for water management and protection, including responsibility for monitoring water quality, rests primarily with local authorities. The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of databases of information related to the environment for the preparation and implementation of environmental monitoring programmes. The functions of the agency in this regard include supervision of the performance of statutory environmental functions by local authorities.
The results of the first ever detailed survey to establish the pattern of occurrence of cyanobacteria in Irish lakes were published in the EPA report Investigation of Toxins Produced by Cyanobacteria in October, 1999. The report found that most algal blooms investigated in Ireland were non-toxic at the time of sampling, and that fully dispersed populations of cyanobacteria do not present a serious threat of acute toxicity. While the investigation could not exclude the possibility of subtle or chronic effects from ingesting water with low toxin doses, the report stated that the most serious danger to humans is to swallow water from a surface scum. It also pointed out that the rate of entry of toxins to drinking water supplies is minimised by the removal of cyanobacteria in water treatment plants. A copy of the report is available in the Oireachtas Library.
The EPA has no plans to initiate a national monitoring programme specifically to identify cyanobacteria, which occur naturally in the vast majority of lakes throughout the world. However, it is proposed that in the current lake monitoring programme algal and cyanobacterial species identification will be performed in cases where lakes are enriched. In addition estimates will continue to be made of the abundance of algae and cyanobacteria populations in all lake samples analysed. Such identifications will be required routinely in the monitoring of lakes over 50 hectares in surface area under the terms of the proposed EU water framework Directive.
