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

I thank the EPA and HSE for their presentations. I thank Dr. Ryan, in particular, for continuing to be very frank with this committee in his presentations. The three reports that have published make for very uncomfortable reading year-on-year but, as a committee, we would do ourselves an injustice if we did not take the facts in those reports seriously because that is exactly what they are. This is very timely because the purpose of these discussions and the series of meetings we are having on water quality generally but tomorrow the Water Environment (Abstractions and Associated Impoundments) Bill 2022 will finally make its way through the Houses starting with the Seanad and, therefore, this debate and the debate on that legislation are very timely.

I have three questions for the EPA. First, to go from 370,000 to 560,000 people is a 51% increase in a very short period. Can Dr. Ryan give us a sense of the reasons for that from the data he has and also the severity? It is 560,000 people I presume rather than households but there are varying levels of negative drinking water quality that is impacted. Any extra information on that would be helpful.

The second relates to my usual bugbear, which is the ongoing infringement procedures by the European Commission for breaches of the urban wastewater treatment directive. Can Dr. Ryan give his view on where that is at and where progress has been made and if any are slipping behind?

It is also important to remember we have significant deadlines under the water framework directive of 2027. Given Dr. Ryan's stark concluding remarks, which I thank him for, because no matter how difficult the truth may be for us to handle we should get the truth, how optimistic or concerned is he that those key targets for 2027 will be met? That specifically relates to his third more general water quality report due to be published.