Vol. 558 No. 4
412 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his Department's plans regarding the contamination of the water supply in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo; the steps which have been taken to rectify the poor quality of water in Ballyhaunis; the number of households affected; when the contamination was first noticed; the action which has been taken in this regard since; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24440/02]
The extension of the Lough Mask regional water supply scheme to Ballyhaunis and the Ballyhaunis town water supply scheme are currently under construction under my Department's Water Services Investment Programme 2002-04. The extension of the Lough Mask scheme, which will replace the source that was the subject of the recent boil water notice, is due for completion by mid 2003. The improvements to the towns storage and distribution systems are due to be completed before the end of 2003.
Local authorities are responsible for dealing with incidents that may threaten individual public drinking water supplies and my Department has issued comprehensive guidelines to assist authorities in this regard. In accordance with the guidelines, Mayo County Council informed my Department that it had issued the boil water notice in Ballyhaunis on 1 November 2002. Notification of the lifting of the notice was received from the council last week.
