Dr. Michelle Minihan:

As part of ongoing monitoring at Leixlip, in recent years there have sporadic detections of cryptosporidium and giardia in the treated water. In 2019, however, there has been a significant increase in those detections in the treated water. Such low-level detections, amounting to one cyst in approximately 1,300 l of water, have been the subject of ongoing consultation between Irish Water and the HSE in respect of the risk to public health. Enhanced sampling of treated water has been put in place at Leixlip water treatment plant as a result of the detections.