asked the Minister for Local Government if there are any proposals before his Department to make water regulations to provide for proper water management and to prevent waste by urban consumers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Water Waste Prevention.
41.
There are no proposals before my Department for the making of regulations on the lines suggested by the Deputy.
Local authorities are already empowered to take action, including the cutting off of the supply, where a person supplied from a public water supply fails to prevent waste. Furthermore, my Department seeks to encourage local authorities, both urban and rural, to operate proper waste water control arrangements and surveys which will ensure that there is no avoidable waste either in the system itself or on the part of the consumers.
Did the Minister say that a survey is under way at present?
There are no proposals before my Department for the making of regulations. Local authorities are already empowered to take action. I encourage local authorities to operate proper water wastage control arrangements and surveys which will ensure there is no avoidable waste. In effect, what I am saying is that it is up to the local authorities themselves, if there is excessive water wastage—and there will be some no matter what one does—to carry out a survey to find out where is the excessive waste and take preventive action.
Is the Minister aware that there is need for a coordinated effort on behalf of local authorities and that they should work under guidelines laid down by his Department?
If there is a leakage of water in, say, a town in Kerry, surely the responsibility for it rests with the urban or county council to ensure that it is stopped, and that would have nothing to do with say, Dundalk, Carrickmacross or anywhere else. Therefore, it is idle to start talking about guidelines to be laid down because they know what are the guidelines. They should stop the leak, and they can do so easily enough if they want.
Is the Minister aware that due, probably, to lack of a proper management system by some local authorities, it may be necessary to design new schemes which, in the long term, may not be necessary and that local authorities who have such a proper management system may be paying for these schemes?
No, that is not possible because all such schemes would have to be submitted to the Department and my engineers would have to approve of them as being necessary before they would receive assistance in carrying them out. I think Deputy O'Leary would agree with me that the proper thing to do is to have the people running the local authority take the necessary steps to prevent any wastage of water occurring as far as they can.