Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. The problem is this. Irish Water's explanation of the discharge of raw sewage into Dublin Bay is that the wastewater treatment plant is functioning properly.

That is, when one gets an adverse weather event and in order to cope with the additional water flow and the mixing of surface water and sewage, there is a natural discharge into the sea. The problem is that because we are having an increase in the number of adverse weather events these instances are becoming more prevalent. It is not just that they are inconvenient; they are causing huge damage to our local environment. It was only this summer that the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, said the Ringsend plant had repeatedly breached its standards and that it was not in line with its wastewater discharge licence, and the EPA is urging the Government to do more. How long is it going to take before that plant stops discharging large volumes of raw sewage into Dublin Bay? What additional investment will be made to ensure that takes place as quickly as possible?

See this speech in context