Chris Andrews (Dublin South East, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment and thank the Minister for coming to the House to discuss the issue. He is obviously conscious of the difficulties being created by the waste water treatment plant in Ringsend, which cost €300 million to construct. I am not convinced by claims that the plant has delivered an improvement in water quality around Sandymount and Dublin Bay. Those who walk along the strand, from the Tara Towers up to the Poolbeg Peninsula, will have noted what appears to be a serious rat infestation in the area. I am not keen to bring children to the area and having visited the strand a couple of times over the summer, I decided not to return such was the number of rats. I am not convinced the plant has provided a panacea for the poor quality of water in the area.

An e-mail sent to me recently by residents in the Sandymount area states:

As you will be aware the odour from the sewage plant has been a major imposition on the residents of much of Dublin South East for the past few years. We have taken up this matter with Matt Twomey Assistant City Manager and were assured that the problem would be solved by late November by installing a higher quality of dryers and covers on the sewage tanks. Two weeks ago we wrote to Mr Twomey to ask him if the installation of the dryers was on schedule (we had been told in July that the first of three dryers would be installed in August, another in October and the last in November). The reply received last week informed us that these improvements will now not be in place until some time in 2008. No target date in 2008 was given.

The odour on Friday night last (Oct.12) was the most vile and noxious to date. It was so bad in our area that my wife thought that there was a gas leak! Given the amount of time that the City Council have had to date to fix this problem and the fact that they cannot now even keep to their own remedy schedule we believe that it is now time for the government to intervene.

Before his appointment, the Minister, referring to problems with the plant, called on the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to "conduct its own investigation and reveal who is responsible for this cock-up". I appreciate, therefore, that he understands the gravity of the situation. Around this time last year, the Minister also asked when someone would be held accountable for the problem. It appears no one will be held to account for this engineering and public relations disaster by Dublin City Council, which has affected the quality of life of people living in the area. While water quality may have improved, air quality has been particularly poor in the years since the plant was constructed.

People have given up telephoning Dublin City Council's complaints department because they have had enough and no longer have faith in the council. My office has tried to contact Dublin City Council in recent days but to no avail. Why would a member of the public bother his or her backside to contact the council when public representatives are unable to do so?

The Minister must ensure someone is held to account and made to pay for three years of failed attempts to control the odours emanating from the Ringsend plant. Why could the original contractors not fix the problem? Dublin City Council wants to increase the size of the plant while developing the Poolbeg area. While efforts to address the odour have resulted in some improvement, the problem is not nearly solved and the issue must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

I appreciate the Minister is precluded from discussing many issues affecting our constituency. Although the odour problem in the Sandymount and Poolbeg areas may not be a burning issue, it is a serious one. I am confident the Minister will deal with it as a matter of urgency.

See this speech in context