The European Communities (Drinking Water) (No. 2) Regulations 2007 assign supervisory powers to the Environmental Protection Agency in respect of public water supplies and assign the responsibility to the water services authorities (the county and city councils) for the monitoring of water supplies within their functional areas. The Regulations prescribe the quality standards to be applied and related supervision and enforcement procedures in relation to supplies of drinking water. The Agency also has responsibility under the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 to publish the results of such water testing. The Act requires such reports to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas. The most recent drinking water reports produced by the Agency, ‘The Provision and Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland, A Report for the Years 2008 – 2009’ and ‘The Provision and Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland, A Report for the Year 2010’ were published in 2011. These reports set out details on the monitoring results for drinking water quality and enforcement proceedings taken by the Agency. My Department does not receive data on the cost of inspections.
