Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Today's from the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, about the wastewater treatment plants is very concerning. Millions of litres of raw sewage continue to be discharged into our rivers and our seas every day. Only half of our sewage was treated to EU environmental standards in 2021. That is way below the EU average of 90%. In Ringsend, which is in the Minister's constituency, sewage is regularly spewed into Dublin Bay, destroying one of the city's most treasured natural amenities. A survey last year from SOS Dublin Bay found that more than one fifth of people who came into contact with water in Dublin Bay through swimming or watersports became ill. The survey calculated that the situation was so bad that it was the equivalent of 74 Olympic swimming pools of untreated wastewater being discharged into Dublin Bay every month.

We are told that the problem will not be rectified until 2025. In total, the EPA has identified 38 areas where work needs to be prioritised to prevent wastewater from harming our rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters. Irish Water has no clear plan for 27 of these areas. I listened to Mr. Michael Tinsley from Irish Water on "Morning Ireland" this morning. He seemed to suggest that Irish Water has not provided timelines or plans to the EPA for this work because it regularly gets criticism for failing to meet those targets. In other words, Irish Water does not have confidence in its ability to deliver projects on time and it has simply stopped publishing deadlines so that it cannot be held accountable for failure.

Another concerning aspect of the report is that those areas where work has been completed are failing to meet EU environmental standards. Clonakilty, Kinsale and Ballymote have the necessary treatment infrastructure to meet the environmental standards. They met the standards in 2020 but failed to meet them in 2021. Will the Minister tell the House what is happening in that scenario? Can critical investment in our wastewater infrastructure be accelerated so that works are completed ahead of schedule? This is especially important in urban areas like Ringsend. These delays are having a disproportionately negative impact on water quality. Why are the towns where investment has been made in infrastructure failing to meet environmental standards?

I am concerned with the lack of accountability in Irish Water. We know it is not publishing deadlines because it does not want to face criticism for not meeting them. It is also the case that there is little accountability for budgets. Irish Water is not audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and therefore is not within the remit of the Committee of Public Accounts. Given that Irish Water has a budget of more than €1 billion of public money, when is that going to change?

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