Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 15 Nov 1995

Vol. 458 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Galway Sewerage Service.

Mr. McCormack

Galway city is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe. It has a steady population of 52,000 which rises to between 80,000 to 100,000 during the tourism season and in winter there are an extra 14,000 students. At all times the population is approximately 65,000. At present sewage is collected in main sewer pipes from all parts of the city and discharged into Galway Bay at three locations. Several plans have been prepared over the past 25 years to install a proper sewerage system.

The planning of the proposed scheme started ten years ago. Plans were drawn up in 1987 and on 1 December 1988 the Department of the Environment advised that an environmental impact assessment should be done. On 9 October 1989, the city council noted the environmental impact assessment and various submissions from the public and passed the following resolution:

That the proposed Mutton Island outfall drainage scheme incorporates secondary treatment from the outset and that the Minister for the Environment be requested to give early approval to the proposed scheme with preparation of contract documents for the scheme.

Six years later we have not advanced on that. On 23 June 1993 the application for funding for the scheme was sent to Brussels but a decision was not made. During the past ten years the level of pollution on our beaches has got progressively worse and Ballyloughane Beach near where I live has ceased to be used for bathing even though 15 years ago it was a safe family beach. Because of the continual pollution of Galway Bay, Salthill lost its Blue Flag status this year. Pressure has built up in Galway to get the Commission in Brussels to make a decision — a fortnight ago 5,000 signatures in support of the Mutton Island project scheme were collected on one day.

At my request Mr. Joe McCartin, MEP arranged to meet with Mr. Wulf-Mathies, Commissioner for Regional Affairs earlier this week and the two other MEPs for Connacht Ulster joined with him in supporting this scheme. Unfortunately a Labour MEP purporting to speak on behalf of the Labour Party told the Commission that the Labour Party was opposed to sanction for the proposed scheme. I presume this spokesperson was misinformed and I am sure the Minister will be able to correct that statement in his reply. Such statements transmitted to the Commission are holding up sanction for the scheme. This week a letter dated 24 October 1995 from the Commission to the Department of the Environment was faxed to local radio station Galway Bay FM. In spite of my best efforts, a record of this letter could not be found in the Department up to 5 p.m. yesterday. This is extraordinary — but more extraordinary is its contents which seem to raise several matters already dealt with. It is written as if plans were prepared for an alternative site, but this is not so. The letter refers also to the marina at Mutton Island but there are no plans for a marina in the proposed scheme.

It is six years since the proposed scheme for Mutton Island was sanctioned by Galway Corporation and the Department of the Environment but it has not yet been sanctioned by Brussels. If we have to begin to plan a new scheme on land we do not own, it will take at least another six years and the current Cohesion Funds will be exhausted.

I appeal to the Minister and all those who are misguided in their opposition to the proposal for the treatment of sewage in Galway city to end the scandal of a city of 60,000 or more people pumping its raw sewage into the sea. Galway Bay has reached its saturation point and will take no more sewage. The sooner the scheme is sanctioned the better. I appeal to the Minister of State to ask the Minister for the Environment — to whom I spoke today on this matter — to put pressure on Brussels to sanction the scheme which was agreed six years ago.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Mr. O'Shea)

I thank Deputy McCormack for raising this important matter. An application has been with the European Commission since July 1993 for Cohesion Fund assistance for the construction of the Galway main drainage scheme. This is a major infrastructural proposal designed to provide secondary sewage treatment for Galway city and its environs in accordance with national and EU environmental standards. A number of elements of the project have already been approved for Cohesion Fund assistance. Work on the Knocknacarra portion of the collection system is already under way. Work will soon commence on the corresponding Oranmore section.

Since early 1994, the European Commission raised a series of questions with the Department of the Environment about the proposal to provide a secondary treatment plant on Mutton Island. The latest development in this correspondence is a letter of 13 November 1995 from the Cohesion Fund director to the secretary of the Department of the Environment in reply to a letter by the secretary of 11 May.

There has been some confusion about the date of dispatch of the recent Commission letter and when it was received in the Department of the Environment. The original of the letter has apparently been posted and has not yet reached the Department. A copy of the letter, bearing the date of 13 November 1995, was faxed to the secretary of the Department yesterday afternoon. Contrary to what has been suggested, the Department did not conceal the existence of the letter, or prevent disclosure of it, for the simple reason that the letter was not in its possession before now.

The Minister for the Environment regrets that public representatives with a close interest in the Galway main drainage scheme should have been embarrassed by the apparently prior disclosure of the Commission's letter to media and other interests. He considers that the lack of protocol involved was regrettable and proper arrangements must be found in future for the release of such correspondence by the Commission.

The Minister for the Environment intends that a full substantive reply to the latest arguments advanced by the Commission will be made as soon as possible. He does not intend at this immediate point to anticipate the content or substance of that reply. His overriding concern is, however, to have this necessary environmental project advanced with minimum delay for the benefit of the water quality in inner Galway Bay.

The proposal to provide a sewage treatment plant at Mutton Island was advanced in an environmental impact study prepared by Galway Corporation in 1992. The Minister for the Environment determined the environmental impact assessment in July 1993 by certifying that the proposed development would embody the best practicable means to prevent and limit significant adverse effects on the environment, subject to specific modifications stipulated by the Minister. These related to mitigation of effects on birdlife, odour control and archaeological excavation of Mutton Island prior to any construction work.

Following the EIA determination in July 1993, the Save Galway Bay group was constituted. The group commissioned a study from a UK based engineering and environmental consultancy. This study, which was postdated and not available to the EIA process, was sent by the group to the European Commission.

There followed a series of requests from the Commission to the Irish Government about the suitability of the Mutton Island proposal. Initially, the Commission made clear that its principal concern was that the Mutton Island proposal might be costlier than a viable alternative at Lough Atalia. This is no longer an issue, given that an independent report obtained by the Commission demonstrates Mutton Island to be the most economical of all the realistic options.

The Commission subsequently wrote to the Department of the Environment in March 1995. On this occasion, it made clear that its principal concern was with the effect of the Mutton Island proposal on the special protection area for the protection of bird habitats which had been designated for inner Galway Bay. The Department replied to this concern on 11 May pointing out that the alternative site identified by the Commission at Lough Atalia was equally covered by the special protection area and that the national parks and wildlife service had in any event certified that the impact on bird habitats would be minimal.

The Commission's latest reservations about the Mutton Island proposal, as expressed in the letter of 13 November 1995, have a different premise. They are principally centred on the visual impact of the proposed causeway and possible effects on sediment movement.

The Minister for the Environment does not wish to comment at this stage on the merits of these latest arguments. He is somewhat concerned, however, about the implications of the Commission's approach for the EIA process. Under the 1985 EIA directive, the duty of establishing systems for the environmental impact assessment of major projects is placed on member states. In accordance with this obligation, member states throughout the European Union have designated a variety of national and — or local authorities to act as competent authorities in determining EIA matters.

If the Commission is seen as a court of appeal in relation to EIAs determined nationally, then this will have important implications in terms of subsidiarity and finality for the EIA process. In the present case, the Commission has effectively indicated a preference for a particular alternative location in Galway. Again, this may have problematic implications for the fair conduct of any future EIA in relation to this site, given that we would be looking to the Commission to assist in cofinancing the project.

The Minister regrets the protracted nature of the correspondence which has been necessary in this case. He is determined to advance an early and effective solution to the pollution problems of Galway Bay. He will ensure that further discussions with the Commission are focused on an early finalisation of this difficult matter.

Mr. McCormack

I thank the Minister of State for his reply.