Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have an opportunity to speak on the motion. I thank my colleagues for proposing it and I also thank the staff in Deputy Mattie McGrath’s office for drafting it. The statistics set out in the motion are frightening. The findings of the EPA report into urban wastewater treatment in 2017 stated that 28 of Ireland’s 179 urban areas failed to meet European standards and that raw sewage from the equivalent of 88,000 people in 38 towns and villages flows into rivers, lakes and the sea every day. We hear reports daily about water quality in our rivers and lakes. How can we expect them to be of high standard when so much raw sewage is being discharged into them? These are the same lakes and rivers from which the vast majority of Irish people get their drinking water. Our beaches are also affected by this raw sewage discharge, which resulted in six beaches being closed by the EPA in 2017. This must pose a serious health risk not only to the Irish people but to the many tourists that enjoy the Irish beaches, rivers and lakes each year.

The lack of wastewater treatment systems in many rural towns and villages is having a negative effect on rural communities as people cannot build homes in the towns and villages in which they grew up. This is contributing to population decline in rural Ireland and puts extra pressure on the major towns and cities that have treatment plants as young people have no choice but to move to get on the property ladder. Every day, we hear about the lack of housing. We have a solution. If the Government would provide the necessary funding and support to Irish Water to facilitate the upgrading of wastewater treatment plants and the construction of new plants in towns and villages, this would help to alleviate the housing crisis. In Galway, there are many rural towns and villages where people have grown up but are unable to live because planning permission to build is not possible as a result of a lack of a proper sewerage system to service housing estates. These people also cannot get planning permission to build outside the towns and villages because such build is deemed urban generated rural development. This is causing major problems and putting pressure on the towns and villages that have treatment plants in place.

There is another problem regarding the transfer of water services to Irish Water in that the company no longer has responsibility for maintaining, repairing or replacing combined drain and water connections to domestic premises that were previously maintained, repaired and replaced by the water services in each local authority. Refusal by Irish Water to maintain such drains causes huge difficulties within a row of houses where a blockage may occur at one private property and the responsibility falls to the owner of that property to repair the drain, even though a large number of properties might be serviced by that pipe. This issue could have huge financial consequences for a particular family, not to mention the health and safety issues that could arise when a drain is blocked for a number of days while these issues are being resolved. Funding must be put in place for Irish Water to address these issues.

The motion calls on the Government to:

— increase and escalate investment in Irish Water to upgrade deficient waste water treatment systems, prevent pollution and avoid financial penalties;

— implement a capital investment programme to provide specifically for the development of waste water treatment systems in rural towns and villages to allow for sustainable development to continue;

— review the service level agreement between Irish Water and local authorities to provide a statutory mandate to Irish Water to repair and restore combined drains systems that were previously under the remit of local authorities;

— expedite progress by local authorities and relevant stakeholders, including Irish Water, in addressing a build-up of pending cases relating to housing developments not yet taken in charge under measure two of the NTICI;

— continue improving how treatment systems are operated, managed and maintained;

— address information shortfalls on the risks to marine life and fishing stock, and the condition of public sewers; and

— urgently prioritise full restoration of the funding provided for group water schemes and private well owners to levels commensurate or above the funding provided during the 2011-2016 period.

The latter funding has been has been reduced from €70 million to €20 million. This is causing major problems for new schemes and in the context of the taking in charge of old schemes, many of which, as my colleague stated, are being looked after by elderly people. It is time funding was put in place to enable these schemes to be taken in charge.

Another issue is the amount of water that is being lost by rural group schemes. These schemes are begging for the local authorities to take them in charge but the local authorities do not have the funding to do so. Local authorities also cannot put in place new schemes in particular areas because there is great difficulty in obtaining approval for them from the Department.

I welcome that the Government and the Opposition have accepted the motion. However, it is no good accepting the motion for the sake of doing so. The Government needs to put in place the funding to ensure that the actions called for in the motion are taken.

See this speech in context