Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The next slot is for the Green Party and I will take it. I have a keen interest in water and, with the expertise we have in the room, I know the witnesses have much experience and a lifetime of dedication to this. My email inbox is not full every week with emails from people concerned about water quality. I have been knocking on doors for 20 years as a politician and it is rare that water quality is raised with me. In general, when people see a river, there is no way of telling it is at risk unless there is a really strong visual indicator. It sounds and looks the same. The riverbank growth might look the same, unless the water is of really bad quality or there is something obvious like smell or stagnation etc.

How do we make obvious the issue we have with water quality in this country? It is a finite resource and our health depends on the extraction of drinking water. How do we make this an important matter for the general public? How do we raise awareness? There may be sewage-related algal growth that could be a verdant green in a stream. Many people might look at it and consider it lovely but the experts in the room know it is an indicator of probable sewage contamination. How do we get the general public to see this as important as climate action? It is part of biodiversity, clearly, but water quality is not something that is raised with me regularly, although it is something I have been interested in studying for years.