Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 22 Feb 2001

Vol. 531 No. 2

Written Answers. - Water Quality.

Derek McDowell

Ceist:

44 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the steps he will take to deal with the situation highlighted in the recent report of the Environmental Protection Agency which found that almost one in ten of the State's public drinking water supplies is unsatisfactory and that a significant amount of drinking water is still bacteriologically unfit for human consumption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5145/01]

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Dempsey)

Statutory responsibility for the provision of drinking water supplies and for upholding the prescribed quality standards rests with sanitary authorities. Stringent drinking water standards are prescribed in the European Communities (Quality of Water Intended for Human Consumption) Regulations, 1988 (S.I. No. 81 of 1988). The duty placed on sanitary authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure that drinking water meets these standards is performed under the general supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency. Its most recent annual report on The Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland, for 1999, published on 12 December 2000, is available in the Oireachtas Library.

The report confirms the fundamentally good quality of Irish drinking water, indicating that 96% of samples from public supplies were free of faecal coliforms and 92% of such samples were free of all coliforms. The greatest continuing problem is the presence of coliforms in mainly poorly treated or untreated private group and small private supplies, although there is a welcome increase, from 58% to 62%, in compliance by group schemes. The report notes that many of the other exceedances are marginal in nature and/or reflect naturally occurring local conditions, and that an intensive programme is in place to remedy the identified deficiencies in rural water supplies.

It is a matter of serious concern that any supply of drinking water is deficient in quality and, accordingly, the National Development Plan 2000-2006 provides for large-scale investment in water services. The provision of £3 billion under the plan includes a particular focus on the provision of additional water treatment and distribution capacity, maintenance of water quality standards, water conservation and leakage reduction, and network rehabilitation.

The rural water programme, addressing the needs of private supplies with water quality problems, will receive £420 million over the plan period. This years allocation, at £55 million, is the biggest ever and is strongly focused on remedying the water quality problems affecting privately sourced group water schemes.

Several initiatives are in place to enable rural water problems to be tackled in a comprehensive and co-ordinated manner in partnership with the National Federation of Group Water Schemes. Last year I introduced a new 100% capital grant to finance the installation of essential treatment and disinfection facilities in group water schemes supplying untreated water to their members. New technologies for water treatment have been successfully tested and will be given widespread application. The federation, with the backing of my Department, is introducing a quality assurance scheme for the group water sector. Following a pilot project on source monitoring in 1999-00 a new national source monitoring programme began in August 2000 and will run for a 12 month period. The national rural water monitoring committee is in place to advise on policy in this sector. This committee has developed a strategy for a source protection scheme and pilot projects will be initiated shortly.

As a back-up to the co-operative initiatives under way, the voluntary basis for tackling quality problems in the group scheme sector has also been strengthened further. Last year an amendment to the drinking water regulations set deadlines of 31 December 2003 for compliance with all quality standards related to health, and 31 December 2006 for compliance with all quality standards. To promote and give practical effect to best practice in the operation and management of water services infrastructure nationally, my Department, in association with FÁS, has established a national training and certification programme for local authority water services personnel. Training to best international standards began in 1995 for the 2000 staff concerned and is being delivered through a network of five new training centres; four are already operational and construction will begin on the fifth, in Leixlip, later this year.

I am satisfied that all reasonable measures are being taken to remedy deficiencies in public and private water supplies as rapidly as possible.