Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I have raised this matter previously in this House and others have raised it as well. There is a strong emphasis around Dublin Bay on improving water quality in the bay. It is a long-standing issue but it has been particularly highlighted by the number of people using the sea facilities since Covid as they have become much more engaged with all-year round sea swimming. I work with a group called SOS Dublin Bay, which has done extraordinary work and great research on this. I have done my own research on it and found that constituents in my area in Dún Laoghaire have experienced illnesses from swimming. This is replicated around Dublin Bay with the presence of E. coli and other harmful bacteria. We recognise that a major upgrade of water services is needed in the area but there are things we can do to help in the meantime. People want to know if the water quality is good or bad. They acknowledge that a water upgrade is needed but random things can affect water quality, such as a heavy downpour for a day or two, movement of birds and excrement from birds, creating localised problems.

What people really want to know, in advance of the upgrade of the water system, is what the water quality is. We need to get to a point where people can check it on an app on their phone. I can check the weather and tide but I should also be able to check the water quality. The reason I could do that is all-year round testing of the water. We are looking for two things. First, we want all-year round testing of the water and the provision of that information, transparently, to people who live in the Dublin area. That way, if they want to go swimming, they can make a decision based on the water quality on a given day, recognising that there can be random days here or there where it is not good, pending the upgrade. Second, the ultraviolet technology in Ringsend should be made available for longer than it is currently, which is three months. I believe that has been extended partially and I would love to know for exactly how long. I have not got that information from the Department yet.

We have been engaged in a process with the Department for some time. The representatives of SOS Dublin Bay and I have been in correspondence since the beginning of 2021. They met with the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, in May 2021, and received a letter from him, which was supportive, in August 2021. It set out the various work his Department would engage in. Crucially, it stated the Department would be commencing work to amend the existing bathing water regulations, SI 79/2008, to allow local authorities to determine the bathing season for individual bathing waters and to support Irish Water in additional monitoring of the impact of UV disinfection. If we can extend the bathing season to the realistic bathing season, which is now all-year round, and not just the three months of the summer, we could then have all-year round testing and would be able to provide that information in a transparent way to people who want to use the water.

I have been disappointed with the correspondence and the pace of engagement from the Department and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, whose responsibility this is, since then. SOS Dublin Bay followed up with another letter on 25 January pointing out that the purpose of the bathing water directive is to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment and protect human health. That must be acknowledged. We need to take further steps to implement that directive.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for her ongoing interest in pursuing the very important issue of water quality in Dublin Bay. In order to protect water quality in the bay, work is under way to upgrade and enhance Irish Water's management of the city's wastewater networks and treatment plants. In addition, the Dublin local authorities are collaborating on projects to improve the management of surface water catchments around the bay.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has also requested the national bathing water expert group to report to him on how best to protect the health of people who regularly swim in Dublin Bay outside the regulated bathing water season. The bathing water expert group has been meeting monthly since late 2021. The expert group is currently gathering information on when and where out-of-season bathing occurs. The expert group has developed two questionnaires, one for the public and one for local authorities. This information, to be gathered within the coming two months, will inform the conclusions of the group and the development of advice to the Minister. This may include any additional necessary measures, including regulatory changes and-or monitoring changes.

In parallel, a bathing water task force, chaired by Dublin City Council, is seeking to improve bathing water quality all-year round in Dublin Bay. The task force has undertaken an assessment of inputs to the Elm Park stream catchment as this stream is considered a significant source of pollution for bathing waters in the southern part of Dublin Bay. Other pressures include dog and bird fouling and wastewater discharges. As part of this work, the following actions are being progressed. Irish Water and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council have closed a sewer outflow at Larkfield and are delivering upgrades to the combined drainage infrastructure at that location, eliminating one source of pollution to that stream. The project included the construction of a new sewer from Larkfield Road to Our Lady's Grove Primary School in May 2021. Installation of a flow and water quality monitor near the outlet of the Elm Park stream will provide information on pollutant loads in the stream just before it discharges into bathing waters. This will assist in predicting water quality problems in order to protect public health.

Additionally, in the Ringsend wastewater treatment plant, Irish Water is operating an ultraviolet filter over the winter months of 2021 and 2022 and is now monitoring to see if water quality improvements were evident during the times the filter was operational. Irish Water is currently collating and analysing the monitoring data and this analysis is scheduled to be completed shortly.

The work I have outlined has been undertaken in addition to the ongoing project upgrade at Ringsend wastewater treatment plant. Furthermore, the programme for Government and the national development plan made significant commitments for Irish Water capital investment in the period 2021-25. I will raise the additional points the Deputy made around advising members of the public who want to use the bathing facilities all-year round in a transparent manner, which I understand is the course of things as people take the opportunity to embrace the outdoors. Any technology we can take advantage of to make that a reality and get information to the source and to citizens' hands is important. I will raise that matter, and the Deputy's other points, with the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, with whom she has had correspondence.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response and acknowledge his attendance here tonight. I know this is not his area but the responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, so I thank him for being here. I appreciate that the expert group is gathering survey data. I am a Deputy for the constituency from north Bray to Booterstown and I have been telling the authorities exactly what the issue is for two years. I have provided my own survey data, as has SOS Dublin Bay. It would be nice if the group engaged with us in this way. A motion was passed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to introduce all-year round weekly testing. I thank the Minister of State for the information about Ringsend.

I wish to highlight a letter from Deputy Noonan to the SOS Dublin Bay group. With the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's permission, I will read it into the record, because I struggle to follow the logic of it. It states:

Department officials, together with the National Bathing Water Expert Group, are currently examining the most suitable options to provide for safe bathing water during the winter months, [the winter months are when the issues are particularly pronounced] and improve the dissemination of information around bathing water quality, both in the Dublin Bay area as well as in other locations throughout the country.

The science underpinning the monitoring and management plans during the current bathing season relates to summer conditions so the National Bathing Water Expert Group are considering this in their discussions and exploring the best options for winter conditions. For example, during summer, sunlight helps to kill harmful bacteria in water. In winter, sunlight is not as effective at killing bacteria and therefore natural background levels of bacteria in bathing waters are likely to be higher. There is also more rainfall during winter months resulting in more bacteria in bathing waters. Bathing waters are currently designated using bacterial bathing water test results over four consecutive summer bathing seasons. For example, if the bathing season is extended to the full year, the 12-month average concentration of bacteria used to determine the designation is likely to be higher than the average concentration over the current summer season. This may result in the current designation of Excellent, Good, and Sufficient bathing waters being downgraded.

The implication is that, because the winter sampling is being taken, it might identify that the water quality is not as good, resulting in our downgrading of the beach. If the water quality is not good, I would like my constituents to know that so they can choose not to swim in it on the day that it is so.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for her intervention. As a public representative in the area she should be front and centre in providing information and in any ongoing public consultation or advice that residents are looking for. I will raise what the Deputy has mentioned about his letter with the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. It is hard to get my head around it when I am reading it at pace but I will bring it to his attention. I have outlined the three areas around the broader context of Dublin Bay, the bathing water expert group and the local authority-led task force that is assessing target areas. We should be liaising with communities and advising them of any deterioration in water conditions so they can make decisions that best suit them. In the modern era we should be taking advantage of technology to do that and to do so in a transparent manner.

The Government continues to invest in our water infrastructure at a high level. The national development plan commitment of almost €6 billion in capital investment to be undertaken by Irish Water from 2021 to 2025 includes a major upgrade of the Ringsend wastewater treatment plant. The Deputy referenced her area, which is a key and important one. I note that the bathing water directive is undergoing a review and officials from the Department are engaging with the European Commission and attending workshops to discuss the revisions required to the directive. Protecting bathers' health out of season is being considered as part of these discussions but as the Deputy rightly points out, out of season is in season now and that is the reality going forward. It is key for citizens to have that information at their fingertips. We will raise the valid points the Deputy has made. I thank her for bringing this up on behalf of her constituents and she has been raising it consistently over a long number of months. We need action in this regard and I will bring that back to the Department.