Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy and I share neighbouring constituencies and have similar concerns on this issue. Protecting nature is also about protecting our own health. I happened to have my first swim of the year on Saturday last, out at the Forty Foot, which was fantastic but bloody cold. I am worried about what I swim in. Too often I have come back from Dublin Bay not feeling well because the water pollution problem affects not just the wildlife but us too. To be local and parochial for a moment, all-year swimming at Dublin Bay has really taken off and that is fantastic. Let us double down on that and make it bigger and better every year.

The biggest concern in that regard, as the Deputy described, relates to the run-off surge that happens when, in periods of high rainfall, the water in the storm drains mixes with that in the sewer drains and runs out directly into the bay, resulting in a significant problem. My understanding is this is not a short-term, easy-fix solution. Additional investment has gone into the treatment plant in Ringsend, and while a new treatment plant on the north side of the city may help, we will still be left with that storm drain problem, particularly my constituency and those of Deputy Devlin and Deputy Bruton, respectively, which are the three constituencies most affected.

To be honest, this is a very large structural, long-term problem. In the short term, and this is more out of interest than anything else, projects are examining the likes of using remote sensory devices on buoys in the bay. We cannot get truly real-time information but we certainly should not have assessments whereby we have to wait two or three days to know about the water quality. It needs to be almost instantaneous in order that we can give people warnings, if necessary, that the water is not safe. Equally, we should be able to get people back in the water quickly once we know it is safe. That is one short-term measure. The longer term one, about pipe infrastructure, will need major investment from Irish Water over a ten-year period to address it. We are the wildlife that is at risk here, not anyone else.