Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 25 Nov 1999

Vol. 511 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Water Quality.

Mr. Gilmore

The report yesterday from the Environmental Protection Agency on the quality of our drinking water is one of the most disturbing reports to appear from a public body in recent years. Drinking water is essential for the continuity of life on our planet. In many parts of the world it is already under severe threat. In regions of the Third World contaminated water is one of the biggest sources of pestilence and disease and especially in major urban centres where there is poor sanitation it is unsafe to drink tap water. Who would ever have thought that the warning "the water is unfit to drink" or "boil all water before drinking" would be messages to be delivered to the heart of rural Ireland?

Yesterday's EPA report reveals that 42 per cent of group water schemes contained coliform bacteria. In addition, it reveals that 8 per cent of public schemes are supplying water that is unfit to drink and that significant numbers of drinking waters are still bacteriologically unfit for human consumption. This is a frightening conclusion and requires urgent action.

The response, however, from the Minister for the Environment and Local Government in the press statement issued through his Department, typically plays down the problem, even though he faces the prospect of being brought to court by the European Commission over the state of this country's drinking water.

In his statement, the Minister said, "The report confirms the fundamentally good quality of Irish drinking water with 92 per cent of public supplies of acceptable standards." The report does nothing of the kind. The reality is that one out of every 12 citizens is being supplied with a public water supply that is unfit for drinking. In his press release, the Minister also downplays the problems in group water schemes by stating that they service "less than 5 per cent of households in the country". People on group water schemes should not be sidelined and treated as a minority. This significant section of rural Ireland has a right to expect the highest and safest standards of drinking water. I know the Minister will tell us about the £420 million being invested in the national development plan to address water quality, which I welcome. However, the issue is urgent and further immediate action should now be taken. The public should be informed about what group water schemes and public water supplies are unfit to drink. Citizens have a right to know if their drinking water is safe for themselves and their families. We need to know what taps are delivering water which is not safe to drink.

I call on the Minister to arrange for the publication of a list of group water schemes where the water is unfit to drink and to publish those sections of the public water supply where it is not safe to drink the water coming from the taps. I also call on him to set out a timetable to bring all the drinking water up to a safe standard. I ask him to take immediate action to identify and urgently address the causes and sources of contamination of drinking water. I ask him to state how and with what speed he intends to respond to yesterday's damning EPA report on drinking water.

Mr. Fahey

I thank Deputy Gilmore for raising this issue. The Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, is unable to be in the House to respond and he asked me to do so on his behalf.

The Deputy should be aware that the Minister has taken on a series of initiatives to address this issue in a planned way since taking up office. This involves local authorities, the group scheme sector and rural organisations coming together in a spirit of partnership and co-operation to achieve a common objective, namely, to eliminate quality deficiency in rural water supplies. The Minister shares the Deputy's concerns about the unsatisfactory state of many group water scheme supplies. While the overall state of our public water supplies is satisfactory, there is no argument that there is a major problem with privately sourced group schemes.

It is regrettable there is a downside to our unprecedented economic prosperity in the form of increased pressure on the environment. In today's world, quality drinking water is synonymous with treated water. The fact that many of the privately sourced schemes do not provide any form of treatment or disinfection lies at the heart of the problem. These schemes supply approximately 50,000 households from springs, wells or boreholes, many of which are vulnerable to pollution from a variety of sources. It is essential that vulnerable schemes are identified and appropriate measures are put in place to remedy the problem.

The Department of the Environment and Local Government has embarked on a new approach aimed at improving the quality, reliability and efficiency of rural water supply schemes. A national rural water monitoring committee, comprising representatives of local authorities, the group sector, rural organisations and the Department, has been established to advise on policy and to monitor the implementation of the capital support measures under the rural water programme. Earlier this year the committee prepared a model strategic rural water plan which will be used by local authorities in drawing up, in a uniformed and standardised way, a rural water plan for each county. All counties are now compiling plans in partnership with key stakeholders at local level. These will set out an agreed strategy for supplying all rural areas with a satisfactory water supply.

Plans alone will not address the acute water quality problems. New ways to eliminate organic pollution must be explored and tested. Money must be provided for this purpose and for the subsequent widespread application of appropriate technologies. Substantial progress is being made on both fronts.

This year the Minister introduced a new water quality initiative aimed at identifying the causes of pollution in private group schemes, an examination of new technologies to treat problem supplies and the practical testing of appropriate technologies. An examination of new technologies by an international firm of consultants has recommended a number of new approaches to treating smallscale systems and these are being tested in a unique piloting arrangement involving local authorities and the group sector at 30 locations around the country. The Minister is confident that these innovative technologies will be highly effective and pave the way for an all-out assault on the pressing problem of water quality in group scheme supplies.

Just three years ago annual expenditure on rural water amounted to £8.5 million. This year capital expenditure will be over £33 million, with a further £5 million being provided to assist with operational costs. The National Development Plan 2000-06 will ensure that the rapidly expanding rural water programme is properly resourced. Some £420 million will be provided under the plan to finance the implementation of strategies which will emerge under the county rural water plans. This is a clear demonstration of the Government's commitment to tackle head on the problems confronting the group scheme sector. It will be a matter for the main stakeholders at county level to prioritise the investment needs locally. It is the Minister's job to ensure that the necessary financial and administrative supports are in place to underpin locally agreed strategies and the House need have no worries in this regard.

As further evidence of the commitment to resolve the quality problems in group schemes, the Department of the Environment and Local Government recently strengthened the legal basis for the monitoring of quality in the larger group schemes and the requirement to take remedial action where necessary. In an amendment to the 1988 drinking water regulations those responsible for these schemes will be required to draw up an action programme for the improvement of deficient supplies. This will be done in consultation with the relevant local authority within the overall participative framework of the rural water programme.

I assure the House that the breaches in water quality standards were generally not extreme and are of organic origin. They can be readily eliminated by better operation and management, coupled with suitable disinfection. The strategic approach outlined, together with the investment as proposed under the national development plan, comprises a substantial and proactive

response by the Government to the problems affecting rural group water supplies.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 30 November 1999.