Dáil debates
Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla — Topical Issue Debate
Water Supply
9:30 am
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The health and well-being of the people of Wexford have been compromised by the actions and inability of the management of Wexford County Council. On 19 August, there was a breakdown at the Creagh water treatment plant in Gorey. People were drinking poisonous water in their homes from the Creagh treatment plant for a week without any boil water notice. Fifty-three people have been reported as affected. Some have been hospitalised while many more have become very seriously ill. It is commensurate with the first scene in the film "Erin Brockovich".
I attended a meeting of Wexford County Council on 13 September at which the director of services occupying the CEO's chair confirmed Wexford County Council first became aware of the contamination on 23 August but no boil water notice was issued. It is unclear what actions, if any, were taken. On South East Radio on Monday, the same director of services said that the first Wexford County Council knew about it was on 26 August. Those stories clearly do not match. The delineation between Wexford County Council and Irish Water is clear. Wexford County Council is responsible for the day-to-day risk management of the plant at Creagh and that risk management failed.
We in Wexford are left with a crisis of confidence in our drinking water. This has been described by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, as an abject failure of management, oversight, operational control and responsiveness by Irish Water and local authorities. In all circumstances, the public must have confidence when they turn on their taps that they can drink the water from the public supply. We are not Spain during the reign of Franco. It is the most basic human right and one that has been compromised by the mismanagement of senior officials at Wexford County Council. Will the Minister of State appoint an independent forensic investigator with proper terms of reference, to include the allocation of engineering resources within Wexford County Council, and of sufficient standing to instil public support and bring back confidence in the water supply?
Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important issue on behalf of the people of County Wexford. Last night, I met online with a number of people who have been affected by this issue. We are aware that more than 50 people have been affected by the Gorey outbreak. These are confirmed cases of illnesses associated with it. I ask the Minister of State to expedite the report of the independent investigation and, as quickly as possible, give people full confidence in the water supply from the Creagh plant in the Gorey area.
I know there have been issues relating to power cuts, pumps, water, alarm failures and heavy rainfall. Those issues amalgamated and the result was water infected with e-coli which, in turn, caused an awful lot of people to become sick. The most important outcome of this debate would be for the people of Gorey to regain confidence in their water supplies. It is easy to point fingers but we must look to the future. People must have confidence in the water supply and it is up to the Minister of State and his Department to make sure the report is expedited to give the people that confidence as soon as possible.
It is unfortunate that this issue happened. It is not good enough. I know an awful lot of people expect clean, safe water. It is incumbent on everybody, including Irish Water and Wexford County Council, to provide it. It is timely that we will now accelerate the establishment of Irish Water as a single water utility company. Dual responsibility has been going on for long enough. There needs to be one responsible entity and it is incumbent on the Government and Irish Water to establish Irish Water as the single water utility company.
Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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I understand a serious investigation into this incident is under way. I ask the Minister of State to ensure the findings of the investigation are published as soon as possible and made available to the public. I ask him to ensure time is given for engagement with public representatives on the findings.
The Minister of State needs to give a clear outline of what will happen from now on and what actions he is preparing to take to guarantee this will not happen again in any of our water treatment plants. Serious questions need to be answered about who knew what and when, how this happened and why it was not reported for two days.
The focus needs also to be on those who got sick. Are they going to be compensated for the hurt, torment and trauma they have experienced? We need to ensure they are fully looked after following this abject failure of the system.
Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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In a letter to the Secretary General of the Department last week, the EPA outlined two serious incidents in recent weeks in drinking water plants serving parts of Dublin city and surrounding areas, which occurred in the Ballymore Eustace water treatment plant and in Gorey, County Wexford. This included, in the case of Gorey, illnesses detected by the HSE in the community served by that water supply, as the three Deputies have outlined. It is important to note that Irish Water reports that these incidents have been rectified and the water supply from the two plants is now safe to drink, although that is cold comfort to the many who fell ill.
In its letter, the EPA stated that an abject failure in management oversight, operational control and responsiveness at two public drinking water treatment plants had allowed unsafe water to enter the public drinking water supply and endanger public health. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and I find the failures identified by the EPA concerning and unacceptable. People's safety and public health are paramount.
Our drinking water must be wholesome, clean and delivered by supply systems that are secure, safe and reliable.
Following receipt of the EPA’s letter, the Minister acted swiftly and met with the managing director of Irish Water, as well as the chief executives of Dublin City Council and Wexford County Council at the weekend. He has requested that Irish Water immediately undertake an audit of each of the water treatment plants across the country. Irish Water will prioritise the 20 largest water treatment plants and will visit each to ensure that proper processes are in place in terms of dealing with and escalating any incidents which may arise. Irish Water’s managing director and the local authority chief executives each assured the Minister directly of their full co-operation and indicated that their respective organisations are working closely together to put in place urgent and necessary corrective measures. Irish Water will also work with each local authority over coming two weeks and will conduct refresher training on incident reporting for all plants. Where appropriate, Irish Water will put its own staff on-site to ensure the continued safety of water treatment plants. The Minister has also requested that the local authorities work with Irish Water to improve linkages with the Irish Water national control centre.
Ultimately, there are limitations to the current working arrangements between Irish Water and local authorities. This is impacting on the delivery of services, a matter highlighted by Deputy Kehoe. A process is under way in the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, to deliver the transformation of the service, but the Minister has also requested that Irish Water and local authorities take further steps to improve Irish Water's control of all water service plants in the immediate term, pending the implementation of the agreed longer term operational and staffing arrangements. The Minister will again meet Irish Water and the local authorities in question on Monday, 4 October, to assess the issues that led to these incidents. Again, we will make the reports available, as the Deputies have outlined, in a timely manner.
9:40 am
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Yesterday in the Seanad, the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, endorsed the CEO. He regaled us with great stories of his skills as CEO of Wexford County Council. The Minister of State, Deputy Burke, might want to read this week's edition of the Wexford People. He might also need to stop listening to the civil servants who are feeding him yet another "Yes, Minister" moment. The EPA has come out with what is an abject failure of managerial oversight and, yet, we have a Minister of State endorsing the CEO who presided over it.
The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, will appreciate that all too often we experience the division of responsibility of the various organs of the State to the extent that nobody is accountable. We pay senior management in our public service comfortable six-figure sums to ensure that the very safety of the public is the cornerstone of our democracy. As a result of the malpractice of senior management of Wexford County Council, the State Claims Agency will be faced with claims in the tens of thousands, if not millions. Yet, those responsible will still be paid on Friday-----
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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The Deputy is over time.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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-----and they will still receive their pensions on retirement. They may even be promoted.
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are over time.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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In short, there is no accountability in the public service. Until there is, we cannot be certain that issues such as this will not come up again. I will raise this matter again and again.
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I would appreciate if the Deputy could raise issue within her own time.
Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State's response. The review that has been carried out must be published as soon as possible. The most important message that must go out from this Chamber today - I repeat the words of Irish Water and Wexford County Council in this regard - is that the water supply is safe to drink at this time.
I become very concerned when Members of this House have personal vendettas against the management of Wexford County Council. This is not a new attack by the Deputy opposite on the management of Wexford County Council-----
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Sorry, Leas-Cheann Comhairle-----
Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I have known Tom Enright, who is chief executive Wexford County Council, for many years. He is a fine public servant. I know that there has been a previous attack on their director of services, Tony Larkin, who is another fine public servant.
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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This is not relevant.
Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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It is completely absurd that a Member of his House-----
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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The Deputy is over time.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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It is relevant, Leas-Cheann Comhairle, because 52 people are sick.
Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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That a Member of this House would use parliamentary privilege to attack public servant-----
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are over time.
Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I have one message. The Deputy opposite went over time. Fair is fair. I ask the Minister of State to indicate that the public water supply from the Creagh Plant to Gorey, County Wexford, is safe to drink. That is the most positive message. I do not want to echo the negativity of some Members of the House; I just want to make sure that the water is safe to drink.
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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The Deputy’s blatant ignoring of the Chair is not acceptable. He referred to personal vendettas. I leave him to reflect on that type of language. The next speaker is Deputy Mythen.
Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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It is important that the Department ensures that public trust is restored, that safeguards be copper-fastened into the water treatment system, that compulsory communication systems are automatically built in to inform the EPA and HSE of problems and that the public is immediately informed of any danger. This is an important issue. Some 52 people are extremely ill and that should be taken very seriously.
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for his brevity.
Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I again thank the Deputies for their comments. I appreciate their ongoing worries about the serious incidents that occurred in the water treatment plant at Gorey and in Dublin. The safety and security of our water supply, as the Deputies have said, is paramount. There is a need to rebuild any trust that has been lost. I give the assurance that tap water is safe to drink in both situations.
One of the first initiatives that the Minister advanced on taking office was to develop a Government policy paper on the steps required to transform Irish Water into a proper, unified national public utility. This paper was progressed precisely because of the type of issues that emerged in the wake of the Leixlip incident in late 2019. The policy paper stated that despite owning the assets and paying for service delivery through service-level agreements with local authorities, Irish Water did not have direct control over the majority of service staff or assets. It also indicated that the separation between responsibility and control needed to be addressed as a priority. The paper made it clear that while the current working arrangement with local authorities had worked effectively to get Irish Water up and running, the limitations of this way of working was beginning to impact on service delivery and were increasingly seen as adding to the risk of service failure, as we have seen in these incidents.
A process is under way with the WRC to deliver the transformation of this service. The Minister has also requested that Irish Water and local authorities take further steps to improve Irish Water’s control of all water service plants in the immediate term, pending the implementation of the agreed long-term operation and staffing arrangements. I again assure the House that the report will be published in a timely manner.
I disagree with the contention that there is no accountability. There is accountability. That is what the Minister will ensure will happen with the local authorities concerned. As all the Deputies said, this is about restoring confidence. That can only be done through collaboration and through ensuring that we move towards a single utility to ensure that we have clean, safe drinking water as a human right for everyone in this country.