Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At the outset I congratulate Deputy Gould on his successful re-election to Dáil Éireann. I thank him for raising this really important issue. As the Deputy has alluded to, I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the relevant Minister, who cannot be here today but has provided me with quite a lot of briefing material on this. That is because it is a hugely important issue. The issue of safe drinking water has both national and local importance, and I fully appreciate the Deputy's concerns for communities affected. I know the Deputy will appreciate that the operation of the public water supply, together with the operational issues locally, are matters for Uisce Éireann and it has the statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services, which includes water services delivery, planning and operation at national, regional and local levels. In turn, the EPA, as the environmental regulator, is responsible for setting quality standards and enforcing compliance with the EU directives the Deputy mentioned in his contribution, and with national regulations for the provision of drinking water.

I served with the Deputy on the housing and local government Oireachtas committee in the previous term, and it is a very good suggestion he has made that the EPA would come before that committee to discuss this in more detail with him. I understand from inquiries made that Uisce Éireann remains committed to addressing instances of water discolouration for affected customers in Cork city. It wishes to assure householders and businesses that its dedicated task force is taking all possible measures to minimise discolouration and to address the underlying issues right across the city. It continues to advise customers not to drink discoloured water and to contact it directly with any reports of discolouration to help it manage the response in real time and to prioritise reactive works.

To protect public health, Uisce Éireann is undertaking extensive sampling, including testing at customers' taps and at networks and operational sampling in the water treatment plant, and the Deputy has outlined some of those test results. As he knows, manganese is a naturally occurring metal found in many soils, lakes and rivers. While a small amount of manganese is actually good for human health, the HSE and the WHO advise that exposure to high manganese levels on an ongoing basis in drinking water can be a risk to health. All exceedances are, therefore, as standard, notified to the EPA and the HSE.

In old cast-iron mains, which account for half of the 600 km water main network across Cork city - the 300 km the Deputy has referred to - sediment can become dislodged and can occasionally be carried through to customers' taps, leading to discoloured water. This sediment can include manganese build-up, and the flushing of pipes will typically lead to the water running clear again. Following a notified exceedance of manganese at a customer tap, which is normally isolated to that network, Uisce Éireann commences an investigation and typically undertakes reactive flushing works.

All infrastructure at the plant complies with global and national water treatment standards. Uisce Éireann is also progressing an additional investment in a new process at the Lee Road water treatment plant to minimise the impact of treated water, and to minimise the impact that treated water has on the old cast-iron watermain network in the city, to which the Deputy referred. This investment is a new conditioning system and it remains on schedule for installation and commissioning by the middle of this year. This will be delivered as part of the ongoing series of task force initiatives by Uisce Éireann to address water discolouration in Cork city and any impacts it has on constituents the Deputy has referred to.

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