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

I thank Irish Water and the Department for all the information provided so far. I want to broaden the discussion a little to water and wastewater quality. It is a bit disappointing that the Department did not include in its opening statement an update on the ongoing European Commission enforcement for our failure to meet adequate wastewater treatment standards at a number of locations. As attendees will know, the most recent EPA report identified 19 urban areas, towns, villages and cities where we were in serious breach of the wastewater treatment directive.

First, can we get an update on where the EU enforcement is at? How many of those agglomerations are still in breach? What is the revised timeline for when they will all be brought into line with the directive?

Second, with respect to Irish Water, the most recent EPA report identified 113 wastewater treatment plants at risk of falling outside of adequate standards on a number of indicators, including more than 30 that were pouring untreated sewage into our rivers, lakes and waters. A total of 52 public drinking water supplies are at risk of not meeting adequate standards. Will Mr. Glesson update us on the number of wastewater treatment plants and drinking water systems that are currently at risk?

This question is addressed to both the Department and Irish Water. I know that colleagues have rightly been raising the need for new water supplies. We have 556 residential areas, mainly in rural Ireland, that still have not been connected to the public water supply. Can we get an update on what levels of increased funding will be provided for those? It seems that until the existing residential areas in those counties are connected to the water supply, it will be difficult to provide new infrastructure for new housing.

On a final point, I note that in both statements, there is an argument that what happened in Vartry and Gorey strengthens the case for the move to a single utility. I am a bit sceptical and the reason is that all the figures I have quoted would be the same tomorrow if there was a single utility. This is not, therefore, just about the governance structures; it is also about the level of investment and the responsiveness to the at-risk water and wastewater treatment supplies. I would be interested to hear how a single utility will advance any of those. I presume the timelines for addressing all those problems will be the same whether we have the service level agreement to 2025 or whether we have a single utility.