Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I have a question for the Department, on the basis of what the witnesses have said with regard to the fact that the current draft may not be as sensitive to regional differences as it could be and that a level of assessment or monitoring might be required that might be greater than necessary in certain areas. Can I take it that the witnesses think the current draft might have some subsidiarity issues that will have to be teased out during the course of the negotiations? Equally, on the basis of the queries about going beyond the World Health Organization, WHO, recommendations and testing for certain types of things that may not be relevant, would the witnesses be concerned that what is currently being proposed may not be proportional? Are those issues that the witnesses will seek to tease out in the negotiations? The other question arises with regard to enforcement. I take it that Irish Water is already working on the risk-based approach. If that becomes the norm everywhere and if, for example, there are problems at source with pesticides, some of which might have nothing to do with the operations of the water services provider but might come from agriculture or industry, who enforces that? If, at a subsequent stage, the State is found to be in breach, is that part of the conversation and what are the considerations there?

Finally, while it is slightly off-topic but relevant, there has been some media coverage recently and we previously considered in the Joint Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services the idea of a drinking water inspectorate, whether that is something located as an additional function of the EPA or independent. Should we now be talking about that in the context of this rather than having Irish Water or the local authorities as the only inspector of water supplies? Maybe it is a question for the EPA. Is this something that we now need to seriously consider as an additional piece of infrastructure to ensure compliance with standards?