Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to ask just one question. I am sorry. I was in the Seanad so I could not get here earlier. I direct this question to the HSE. I sit on not only the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage but also the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. There is a double connection in all this. It is the simple question about the alarming level of pesticides found in our water. There has been recent media coverage of this, on which I have commented. The level is very high in parts of the UK. We have it here. I know that Irish Water is touching on this because I have read its written statement. Its representatives will be here later and I will put to them the same question about enforcement and the alarming effect of pesticides, which are found in the urine of children. This is quite well documented. The witnesses may not have come equipped with too much information on it, but if they had a particular view on it I would be interested to hear it. If not, I would like them to supply, with their agreement and that of the committee, some more information on facts, data and samples, who is ultimately responsible and the co-ordination of this between Irish Water, which does a certain amount of work on this. There is some talk that there is clearly evidence of a reduction in pesticides in certain areas in respect of enforcement and that enforcement levels and sampling have gone down. These are carcinogens. They pose very serious challenges to all human health. In particular, evidence of pesticides has been found in young children. How is that coming into the system? Is it coming through the food chain, the water or the water used in respect of agriculture and crops? It is a challenge, it is disturbing and the witnesses might be able to share some thoughts or some data or information here or furnish the committee with it subsequently.