Ms Geraldine Tallon:

It is, unfortunately, unacceptable behaviour on the part of individual local authorities. However, the Department is putting in place a new system. Given that the State has obligations to the European Union in terms of compliance with the urban wastewater treatment directive, we would be concerned in those kinds of circumstances.

We would have been in contact with local authorities in those circumstances. There is a detailed sampling regime in place. We would be concerned that authorities carry out the sampling and provide the results on that basis.