Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is great to have the opportunity to speak on this good report. A number of bathing areas across Dublin Bay are often directly impacted by poor water quality and health notices to avoid swimming are frequently put out to the public. There have also been warnings against children playing with sand on the beaches due to health risks, mainly from dog fouling, which I understand is a significant problem. Recently, large volumes of raw sewage were released directly onto the shoreline in Sandymount with no warning to the community and no clean-up effort by Irish Water. The rivers feeding into Dublin Bay have been classed as some of the most polluted in the State. The large volumes of waste flowing into the bay down the likes of the River Liffey, the Grand Canal and the Tolka Estuary is worrying. We need to put in place projects like Mr. Jimmy Murray’s Liffey Sweeper. I am not sure as to whether the Minister of State has been made aware of it.

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