Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. We have had two key achievements since many of them were with us this time last year. I refer to the progress made at Vartry and to the Leixlip upgrade, which serves much of my constituency. I welcome the significant investment of €59 million in a 100 million l reservoir in Saggart, which will also serve my constituency when it is up and running. I toured that site at the start of the summer. I am really excited to hear about the benefits it will provide in terms of long-term water security for the greater Dublin region. Much of what the witnesses said about public drinking water quality remaining so high is really encouraging.

However, it is disappointing to learn that many of the gains that have been made have already been eroded. Why has that happened? Last year Dr. Ryan and Dr. Minihan addressed the committee on a concerning report specific to Ballymore Eustace and to Gorey. As they might recall, what concerned me, coming from a business background, was the lack of processing, the escalation path breakdowns and the weak business continuity planning. They presented quite a detailed action plan that they felt would rectify a lot of that. Is that happening?

I can see from what the HSE has outlined today that it has thorough incident response procedures and processes in train and in action. They seem to be working quite well. Does the HSE feel it is getting the necessary buy-in, collaboration and co-operation of the other agencies involved? I do not know who wants to start.