Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

It is welcome that the Minister is providing more staff to the EPA but the problem is with local authorities. The EPA found that 14 local authorities were not doing their duty in terms of monitoring water supplies. They do not have enough staff or expertise for that. When he was Minister, Deputy Dick Roche told the then mayor of Galway, Niall Ó Brolcháin, that money was available but he did not provide the necessary resources or staffing to the local authority to solve the problem.

The EPA discovered that the equipment at 40% of treatment plants is inadequate in the context of allowing them to treat supplies for cryptosporidium, which gave rise to the problem in Galway. Cryptosporidium can cause acute short-term infections or illnesses in children that are untreatable. The public is, therefore, at risk. The position in respect of e.coli is similar. A recent study indicated that it costs this country €135 million to treat people with stomach bugs, which are mainly caused by e.coli infections. The EPA also uncovered major difficulties as regards the treatment of e.coli in our water supplies.

It is not enough to state that sufficient money will be available over a period of years. Funding must be provided for specific projects and local authorities should be given the necessary staff, expertise and resources to allow them to deal with the problems to which I refer.

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