29 Sep 2011, 15:57
The supply, storage, provision, disposal and cost of water will be a key priority for the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht in its work programme for the remainder of the year.
Committee Chairman Ciarán Lynch, TD said: “Water supply is a priority issue in this country. There is no doubt that there is a pending problem with water supply in some areas, while nationwide we have experienced disruption to water supplies during winter cold snaps or shortages during the summer. On top of this, there is also the situation where vast quantities of water are lost through leakages in the system.
Everyone knows that there are limits and high costs involved in the provision of treated water to our growing population. We must provide water in highly populated areas such as Cork City and Dublin City and in rural low-population areas also. We must adhere to EU regulations and directives and we must be conscious of the economic costs and environmental impacts of our decisions.
Over the coming weeks, the Committee will be meeting with as wide a range of stakeholders as possible – various local authorities, the Department of the Environment, consumer organisations, engineers, environmentalists and the business sector – so that we can fully examine the problems, possibilities and alternatives available to the various stakeholders in the supply, storage, provision, disposal and costing of water. Interested parties can also contact the Committee on the issue.
And having carefully considered the evidence put before us, the committee will publish is own report which will put forward practical proposals to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.”
As well as water provision, other key elements of the Committee’s work programme for the remainder of the year will include:
• Housing
• Hydraulic Fraction (Fracking)
• Reform of Local Government
• Residential Tenancies Act
• Waste Management Policy
• Review of Taxi and Private Bus Industry
• Rural Transport
• Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area
• Economic Duties of Údarás na Gaeltachta
• Local Government and the Arts
For further information please contact:
Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551
Committee Membership
Deputies:
Ciarán Lynch, Labour Party (Chairman)
Noel Coonan, Fine Gael (Vice-Chairman)
James Bannon, Fine Gael
Paudie Coffey, Fine Gael
Terence Flanagan, Fine Gael
Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Fine Gael
Tony McLoughlin, Fine Gael
Patrick O’Donovan, Fine Gael
Brian Walsh, Fine Gael
Kevin Humphreys, Labour Party
Gerald Nash, Labour Party
Seán Kenny, Labour Party
Robert Troy, Fianna Fáil
Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil
Niall Collins, Fianna Fáil
Sandra McLellan, Sinn Féin
Dessie Ellis, Sinn Féin
Brian Stanley, Sinn Féin
Clare Daly, Socialist Party
Catherine Murphy, Independent
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, Independent
Senators:
Cáit Keane, Fine Gael
Catherine Noone, Fine Gael
Labhrás Ó’Murchú, Fianna Fáil
Ned O’Sullivan, Fianna Fáil
Eamonn Coghlan, Independent