Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are relaxed in the committee so that is not a problem. I have eight questions but first I want to put on the record that it is precisely on an occasion like this that the value of the Environmental Protection Agency is proven and I want to commend the witnesses on the audit reports, which are short, concise, clear and easy to understand for those of us who are not specialists. It gives us a fully independent view of the facts, and that is enormously valuable, both to us on the committee and to the members of the public.

Can the witnesses take us through what happens after the EPA issued the March-April 2019 report in some detail in terms of its engagement with Irish Water or with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government? Is there a mechanism for escalating that engagement if there is a feeling, as the months progress, that the recommendations are not being acted on in an appropriate timeframe? I am particularly keen to know if at any stage the Department is involved in that process if the EPA feels Irish Water is not responding properly.

If the eight recommendations outlined in the March-April report had been fully implemented before October, would it be the EPA's view that the October incident and subsequent boil water notice would have been avoided? That is an important question the public has a right to know the answer to. There has also been quite a lot of public debate about whether this is an operational issue, a management issue or an investment issue. I know it does not have to be one of those issues in particular or the other, but I would like to know, particularly with respect to the October event, now that the EPA has done that audit, whether it was primarily an operational issue or as Dr. Ryan seems to indicate in the opening remarks, might there be some investment upgrade issues there as well?

On the basis of the information we have about yesterday, there seems to be a different cause to what took place. Maybe the witnesses could compare, in as simple and non-technical language as possible, the October event and the November event, albeit the EPA has not done an audit yet for what took place yesterday. Can the witnesses give us a sense of that? One of the things I am confused about is that this plant has received considerable funding for significant upgrades. It was upgraded in the 1990s and there was an additional upgrade in 2014 of about €30 million or €40 million so there has been a little bit of a public debate about this being an old plant. Can the witnesses give us a sense of this? Is it that there is an older part and a newer part of the plant? Where are the problems? Again, I ask them to do so in as clear a manner as possible.

I am concerned by a bit in Dr. Ryan's opening statement. It seems to be a little bit different from the version I have. On page 6, it says: "the Leixlip Water Treatment plant is now operating satisfactorily."

However, the opening statement then goes on to say there is a deficit for treatment of parasites such as cryptosporidium and giardia. Dr. Ryan went on to say that there are upgrade works under way but when they are completed, if I understood him right, those works will not be sufficient to address the problem. Can we have more information on that and what would be required in terms of works and their possible cost to ensure the public would have confidence that these kind of issues are not going to be repeated?