John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

The Deputy referred to the specific example of Galway city. I had the opportunity to visit the new Terryland plant recently and I spoke to the engineers there who confirmed that not only will the quality of drinking water in Galway be good as a result of the initiatives my Department has taken, it will probably be the best quality of drinking water in the country. Moving from a position where supplies were infected with cryptosporidium to one where drinking water quality will be extremely good represents a major change.

The 339 schemes identified by the EPA include those where there is likely to be a risk of infection by cryptosporidium. Upgrading measures will provide safeguards against such infection. A cryptosporidium working group has been established under the aegis of the EPA to address issues such as the main contributory factors to high-risk supplies, the development of source protection guidelines, updated advice on risk assessment and corrective actions that can be taken to reduce risk. A number of guideline documents have been produced and are available to local authorities.

See this speech in context