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

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue on the EPA's urban wastewater treatment in 2021 report. Having a well-functioning and resilient wastewater treatment infrastructure that will protect our environment is an issue of national importance and I appreciate the Deputy's concern in this matter.

Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has had statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. Irish Water's primary function is to provide clean, safe drinking water to customers and to treat and return wastewater safely to the environment. In turn, the EPA holds Irish Water to account for its environmental performance. The EPA is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the necessary quality standards for the collection and treatment of wastewater discharges.

As part of budget 2023, we secured funding of more than €1.65 billion to support water services, with €1.56 billion of this allocated to Irish Water. This overall investment will deliver significant improvements in our public water and wastewater infrastructure. In 2021, Irish Water invested €367 million in wastewater, which is the highest annual level to date.

Many serious challenges remain which will take significant investment, as the Deputy pointed out. The EPA has identified in this report the priority areas where Irish Water must target its available resources to deliver improvements where they are most needed and will bring the greatest environmental benefits. Irish Water is also working to ensure that new capacity is made available for housing and commercial development.

Irish Water's investment will deliver significant improvements in our public water and wastewater services, support improved water supplies throughout Ireland, including rural Ireland, and support a range of programmes to deliver improved water quality in our rivers, lakes and marine area. It is key to addressing Ireland's shortcomings in water and wastewater infrastructure, including compliance with the urban wastewater treatment directive.

Some 93% of Ireland's public wastewater plants are compliant with the urban wastewater treatment directive. The vast majority - 90% - of the total wastewater load that is not yet in compliance with the directive requirements comes from one treatment area, namely, the Ringsend wastewater treatment plant which serves Dublin and the surrounding area. Irish Water is investing more than €500 million in the staged upgrading of Ringsend wastewater treatment plant, which will deliver the capacity to treat the wastewater for a population equivalent of 2.4 million people, while achieving the standards of the urban wastewater treatment directive, by 2025. Irish Water also has plans in place to address any outstanding issues at the remaining non-compliant plants. Some 40% of the 90% of sewage about which the Deputy spoke comes from Ringsend, which will be brought up to standard by 2025.

Since 2014, Irish Water has eliminated 60%, by volume, of all raw sewage discharges through targeted investment in new sewage infrastructure and is on target to eliminate nearly all of the remainder by 2025. This work represents investment in 21 areas where there was no sewage treatment before.

Urban wastewater pressures are impacting on 208 water bodies. This equates to 4% of water bodies, nationally, where urban wastewater improvement measures are required to achieve water framework directive objectives. Works are complete to address urban wastewater pressures on 12 water bodies and projects are progressing in 61 further water bodies. Another 63 water bodies have assessments under way and for the remaining 72 water bodies, assessments will be initiated in a rolling programme to be completed by 2029.

Collection networks will also need to be improved and adapted to a changing climate. However, these projects are complex, especially in cities, and will therefore take considerably longer to address. The number of areas on the EPA's priority action list has been reduced by one third since 2017. Irish Water has a plan to complete works at all plants on the list by 2030. We have a river basin management plan with public consultation that has to be ambitious. With regard to the pressures that we are seeing on receiving bodies of water, the issue of urban wastewater is reducing and agriculture has taken over as the most significant factor. Significant improvements are being made but I absolutely accept the Deputy's points that are still outstanding.

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