John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

The Government is committed to preserving and protecting our water resources as a key element of environmental policy and to putting critical infrastructure in place to support industrial, commercial and other development. The management of municipal waste water treatment plants is generally the responsibility of water services authorities. In addition, my Department co-ordinates and finances a major programme of investment in improved waste water infrastructure as part of the water services investment programme. The waste water schemes included in the programme are derived mainly from regular assessments of needs, undertaken by all local authorities at my Department's request, as an input to the overall strategy for meeting waste water services infrastructural requirements. Among the criteria that local authorities are required to take into account in undertaking those assessments are compliance with relevant national and EU requirements and, in particular, the need to ensure compliance with the EU urban waste water treatment directive.

Compliance with the general requirements of the directive in regard to secondary waste water treatment has increased significantly over the past decade, rising from a compliance level of 25% in 2000 to some 92% at present, with all remaining schemes needing to be undertaken included in the water services investment programme 2007 to 2009. In its most recent three-year report on water quality, published in November 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency noted an overall slight improvement in water quality in the environment. Improvements in waste water infrastructure as well as measures introduced to control diffuse sources of pollution from agriculture would have contributed to the improvement. I am satisfied that the policies and resources are in place to ensure the highest emission standards from our municipal waste water treatment plants.

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