Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First and foremost, I thank Deputy Bacik for bringing forward this Bill. Having heard what the Minister said on the collaboration that is going to happen from here on with this, it is important to bring into focus the issues that many of the Deputies have spoken about today and the need for us to work as a collective of Deputies representing all coastal constituencies across Dublin, and indeed those who do not but who have a great affinity with the amenity of Dublin Bay. I acknowledge and thank the SOS Dublin Bay group, among others. My colleague mentioned Flossie and the Beach Cleaners, an organisation that has done fantastic work along the coast, as has Ms Margaret Brown, founder of Sandycove Tidy Towns, and others. My constituency colleague Deputy Boyd Barrett mentioned the late Bob Waddell, who passed away, sadly, in January 2019. He was exceptionally good at communicating with all local representatives. His input into various community organisations is missed.

Turning to the Bill itself, I note that section 4 states the authority will "propose and promote policies and priorities for the protection and enhancement of the environment of Dublin Bay and of the natural habitats and wildlife in and around the Bay". As was said and as was alluded to by the Minister, a vast number of water quality notices are issued. Speaking as a representative of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, I can say that it is frequent, particularly at this time of year, that water notices are issued and swimming is prohibited, unfortunately. As others have highlighted, swimming has become very popular. It became popular before the pandemic, but there has certainly been an explosion of interest and use of Dublin Bay since then. Deputy Bacik told us about her swimming group that meets regularly. There are many other such groups, some of which are formal. I know of groups in Sandycove, the Forty Foot, as well as in Killiney, Sandymount and Seapoint in my own area. There are many groups and the interest is there. Obviously, there is huge frustration when we see these poor water quality notices being issued, many of which are avoidable, and the impact they have on swimmers and people.

While I welcome the €6 billion investment, there are still challenges that remain. It is not just purely about the waste treatment centres and the treatment of run-off from roads. There are a whole range of issues. We have spoken about the Dublin Bay biosphere. Mr. Dean Eaton was mentioned by Deputy Andrews. When I was on the council, Mr. Eaton was an employee of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and went on to work as Dublin Bay biosphere co-ordinator. He and his colleagues have a great passion for their work. The work they are doing is extremely commendable and is important for raising awareness. I note that in the proposed Bill the aim is to promote and support the strategic planning and sustainable development in and around Dublin Bay as well as promoting the various benefits of the bay. What is also important about the proposal around the Dublin Bay authority is how that organisation or structure is formed. That will be teased out on Committee Stage. We obviously have to be aware of the EU directives in place. That is known and recognised by all concerned. Ultimately, we want to work collectively with the various volunteers who have a great passion and love for the area and who have really championed this, to give them their due. We also want to ensure that, as political representatives, we bring together the various organisations and agencies involved, of which there are many, as the Minister alluded to earlier. We need to ensure the local authorities and the various agencies are working in tandem with each other to ensure we bring forward some mechanism to improve water quality all year round. I welcome that the Minister is committed to ensuring we get real-time information. That is sorely lacking. At the moment, there are some people who are not aware of the prohibitions that are in place. Swimmers have to search for that information before they go swimming. The information should be readily available. The results of all-year round testing should also be made public for the various bathing areas.

Deputy Bacik has done a great service by ensuring we, as the Oireachtas, are examining what can be done for Dublin Bay to improve water quality, the benefits of which will be felt not only by those who swim in the but also by the rich biodiversity in our bay. I welcome the Bill and look forward to it progressing to Committee Stage shortly.

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