Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for bringing this important issue to the attention of the House.

I welcome the comprehensive report from the EPA showing that, while many serious challenges remain, Irish Water is continuing to make progress and is improving the performance of our waste water systems. The Deputy will appreciate that, since 2014, Irish Water has taken on the full statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. In turn, the EPA, as environmental regulator, is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the necessary quality standards for the collection and treatment of waste water discharges. Today’s report shows that Irish Water has reduced the number of priority waste water sites listed by the EPA. It has increased the number of large towns and cities that now meet the required EU standards for waste water discharges, and it continues to reduce the number of towns and villages discharging untreated waste water.

The EPA appreciates and acknowledges the long and complex programme of work that lies ahead for Irish Water. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, and I, like the EPA, are eager to see faster progress on the delivery of each of these projects wherever this is feasible. The Minister spoke to officials from Irish Water following publication of the EPA report. The company has quite serious challenges, and while we all know that it will not be possible to fix all our infrastructural deficits overnight, this work requires very significant and sustained capital investment. These are complex projects and must be carefully planned in consultation with communities as well as designed to meet future needs.

The programme for Government includes firm commitments that will ensure Irish Water is funded and is structured to fully meet this challenge.

The Government is supporting Irish Water through delivering the balance of the €8.5 billion funding package committed to in Project Ireland 2040. As part of budget 2021 we increased provision for the Irish Water capital programme by €100 million over this year's initial allocation, from €592 million to €692 million. The Government also provided an additional €87 million in capital funding to Irish Water this year as part of the July stimulus package and the budget.

The discharging of untreated sewage directly to the environment is clearly not a tenable situation and is one that I earnestly wish see addressed as soon as possible. When Irish Water was established in 2014, it inherited a system in need of very significant improvement. The company has set about this task but was possibly overly ambitious in some of its plans. However, the company has halted the discharge of raw sewage from the equivalent of 100,000 people in 15 towns across Ireland, removing half of all the raw sewage discharged. Over half of the remaining discharge will end with the completion of the Cork lower harbour project and the construction of the Arklow waste water treatment plant. The company expects to start work in 2021 on 12 further areas where raw sewage is being discharged, with the work in the majority of the remaining areas due to start in 2022 and 2023. A new treatment plant for Avoca is being designed at present, with a planned construction start date of 2023 and a completion date of 2024. The current estimated cost is €8.5 million.

As the Deputy will know, the provision of a sewage treatment plant for Arklow has a long and complex planning history going back as far as 1988. It is one of the largest areas left without a treatment plant, with a population equivalent of 36,000 people. A site has now been secured and planning permission has been granted. I understand a contractor has been selected and construction is due to start in 2021. Irish Water has informed the Department that the construction will take three years.

I note comments on the EPA report from the Sustainable Water Network concerning our commitments under the EU water framework directive. I also note that Coastwatch Ireland is calling for a ban on wet wipes because of their impact on our storm water overflow discharges. This is something the Government should seriously consider. In terms of waste water treatment generally, we are making significant progress although that progress cannot come fast enough.

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