Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Many thousands of people swim in Dublin Bay every day, particularly during the summer. Even during the winter very hardy souls swim. The numbers are growing all the time. For years now - and this continues to be the case - when heavy rains come down the sewage mixes with the rainwater, at least in our area, and the pumping station off the West Pier is not able to pump the stuff out quickly enough. This problem is supposed to be resolved by the upgrading of this sewage treatment plant in Ringsend but it is still happening. Regularly when there is heavy rain, the warning is given that one cannot swim at Seapoint and around Dún Laoghaire because we still have not resolved this problem to ensure water quality for swimmers. Is the committee aware of this and when will it be resolved? It has been going on for years. Swimming is a healthy pursuit and exercise for many thousands of people but we are still in this intolerable situation when heavy rain comes and people are told they cannot swim.

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