Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [46873/25]

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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2. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [48529/25]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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3. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [56902/25]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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4. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [56996/25]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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5. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [57002/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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6. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [57037/25]

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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7. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [58034/25]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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8. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [58231/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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9. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will meet next. [59583/25]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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10. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [59735/25]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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11. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [61677/25]

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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12. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [63177/25]

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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13. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [63428/25]

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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14. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [63480/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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15. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [63511/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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16. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [63527/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 16, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet Committee on water quality oversees implementation of the programme for Government commitments in relation to the range of issues affecting Ireland’s water system. The committee last met on 30 October and the date of its next meeting has not yet been scheduled. The committee is informed by the work of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, which monitors and reports on water quality in Ireland. The EPA recently published its report Water Quality in Ireland 2019-2024, which shows water quality improvements in some areas but also an overall decline in waterbodies in a satisfactory ecological condition. While the overall ecological status of Ireland’s waters is significantly better than the European Union average, the downward trend is a matter of concern. The report shows that targeted actions in the agricultural sector and improvements in wastewater treatment appear to be paying dividends, with lower reported levels of nutrients in water bodies where targeted actions have been taken.

The Cabinet committee has also examined the investment programme of Uisce Éireann to improve wastewater treatment capacity and meet best practice in managing its existing infrastructure. Last week, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage published a sectoral plan for water services and water quality. This includes record investment of €12.2 billion, largely allocated to Uisce Éireann to support the delivery of the additional water services capacity required to deliver the Government's housing plan and to improve water quality. This investment will help to deliver the Government water action plan, Ireland's roadmap to protect and restore our rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and ground waters.

Last year, the Government also published Water and Agriculture: A Collaborative Approach, and this report sets out measures to address the twin objectives of improving water quality and demonstrating that a robust case exists for the maintenance of a derogation for Ireland from certain aspects of the EU nitrates directive. In October, the Minister, Deputy Browne, published a draft nitrates action programme, which will form the basis of Ireland’s ongoing discussions with the European Commission on a new derogation. The Minister has invited submissions from the public on its contents. A public consultation process on the strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment of the plan is also live, with submissions invited by 1 December.

European Union environmental Commissioner Roswall visited Ireland last week and met with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, as well as farmers and other stakeholders to discuss Ireland's application for a derogation and the importance of its continuation to Ireland's outdoor, grass-based livestock systems. The visit provided an opportunity for the Commissioner to visit a farm in County Kildare to see at first hand the efforts towards improving water quality and to engage with public representatives and stakeholders. Discussions with the Commission are ongoing to find an approach that facilitates the continuation of high-quality dairy and beef production by derogation farmers while ensuring sufficient protection for the quality and ecological status of our rivers, lakes and estuaries.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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We have 16 speakers. They have a minute each and I ask them to be as concise as possible. I call on Deputy Cleere.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Last week, we saw serious disruption for towns and villages like Thomastown, Graiguenamanagh, Inistioge and Freshford, which are currently faced with significant backlogs for the implementation of effective flood relief schemes. I acknowledge there has been extensive consultations with local communities to achieve a solution that satisfies those communities and the needs of the local environment. However, the delivery has been delayed far too long. The conversation needs to move to action. It is all about implementation and delivering effective solutions for these communities at risk.

Let me give the Taoiseach a brief example. In Graiguenamanagh, my own town, there was a major flood issue in 2016. In 2018, funding was announced. In 2020, a design team was assigned. We are now in November 2025, and we have not even gone for planning permission yet. It is anticipated that the planning process will take two years. Construction will then start at the end of 2028, with a two-year timeframe for completion. That just gives an example of the length of time these projects are taking.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Deputy has five seconds.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that fish life is important, but what about the lives of Johnny and Mary, living in a house that has been flooded? The people in Freshford, Graiguenamanagh, Thomastown and Inistioge are going to bed at night from November to March wondering if their houses will be flooded come the morning.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The injustice to these communities has gone on far too long.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Farmers are very keen to improve water quality. The recent oversubscription of environmental schemes reflects that appetite. Our grass-based system differs very much from what would be found across Europe. Family farms right across Ireland need to be able to plan for the year ahead and the nitrates derogation is very much part of the planning for the day-to-day operation of the farms. Farmers are really keen to know where they stand and they are going to need to know that for the start of the year. Retaining this derogation is vital. I very much impressed this on Commissioner Roswall during her recent visit to Ireland. She did acknowledge that progress had been made but she was also keen to see that there would be ongoing progress and improvements. Will the Minister and the Government be able to win support across EU colleagues to ensure the derogation will be retained? Additionally, farmers are also being told they are not alone in respect of improving water quality. They are keen to pull their weight and they will, but they also need to know that municipal waste inputs and Irish Water will also pull their weight.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Two years ago, I raised with the Taoiseach a repeated problem of sewage overflowing in Dodder Valley Park beside Balrothery weir. When there is heavy rainfall, the sewage shoots out beside a residential area in a beautiful park. It is still happening. It happened again last weekend with the heavy rainfall. In March 2024, I got a reply from Uisce Éireann accepting that it was impacting the environment and posing a risk to public health through flooding. At that time, it said it was at stage 3 of a four-stage process and it would have options and costings in quarter 4 of 2024. In August 2024, I followed up on this matter. I got a response in February of this year, over six months after the promised commencement of stage 4. The company apologised for the delay and said it was concluding stage 3 and moving into stage 4. I have followed up again with the company. It is simply unacceptable that the health of residents and park users is put at risk and that the deadlines for action keep getting delayed. Does the Taoiseach agree that Irish Water, Uisce Éireann, must act?

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I would like to use this time to remember Chloe McGee, Chloe Hipson, Dylan Commins, Shay Duffy and Alan McCluskey. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha dílse. We think of their families and friends. It is going to be a very difficult time over the next couple of days for communities right across counties Louth, Monaghan and Meath. I have been in O'Fiaich College and DkIT and seen huge supports for students and staff. It was the same in the Sean McDermotts club last night also. This is the level of resilience we will see. My thoughts go out to those affected by what has been an absolutely desperate tragedy. I also think of those injured. We hope for a speedy recovery. Beyond that, we think of the emergency services, whose members saw things nobody should have to see.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Go raibh maith agat. I appreciate that yesterday's proceedings overtook us and we did not get to pay our due respects. What the Deputy said goes for us all. I thank him. I call on Deputy Conor D. McGuinness.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith agat. I want to raise with the Taoiseach the situation of two households living in Lyre, Mahon Bridge, County Waterford. They live in two adjoining council-built cottages constructed in 1949. At the time, the local authority installed a water supply from an open stream flowing off the Comeragh Mountains, and that is still their only source of water 75 years later. It is untreated and coming from a roadside stream. The water runs black and is full of silt, filth and worse. Each of the men has pulled dead rats and badgers from it on occasion. The supply is so unsafe that the health authorities have warned them not to even wash their hands with it.

I have raised this directly with the Minister for housing and with Uisce Éireann. A brand new public mains runs just 500 m from the townland of Fews across from these men's homes. Connecting these homes would require just a short bore under a regional road but Uisce Éireann has refused to fund it and instead told residents to apply for a private well grant. Unfortunately, the land in the area they live in is not suitable for a private well and they have that on good authority from several professional well drillers. Will the Taoiseach please act in the interests of these two households and instruct Uisce Éireann? I will show the Taoiseach, very briefly, a bottle with a sample of water they provided me with recently. It illustrates the depth of what their public water supply is.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy, we do not allow displays of such nature but I understand it is your first time. I call Deputy Barry Heneghan.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I have raised the issue of water quality in Dublin Bay time and time again. I am not going to just single out the north side. This is a north and south Dublin problem. We saw the rain that fell at the weekend. We have all seen the drone footage of the bay being polluted. I have swimmers whose only way of socialising is getting into that water and having the chats but the E. coli levels are not acceptable at the moment. In Dublin Bay and with the way the plumes work with the tides, the north side is affected worse when there is a high level. Some of these constituents are here today with the visual artists from Palestine who raised money for Artists Without Borders in Clontarf Castle. They are going to be swimming in that water. These are the people who need this water protected. We see in Dún Laoghaire that oysters are being brought in to treat the water. Can we get that on the north side as well? I have a mandate for that. It was on my four-pager. Oysters are great natural filters of E. coli and other contaminants.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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The EU drinking water regulations came into effect in Irish law in March 2023.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sorry, the which?

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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The EU drinking water regulations. I raise it in the context of the ongoing intolerable situation where 500 households in Ballycroy and Inishbiggle, in County Mayo are left without water for days on end. The way to solve this is to allow some flexibility in the multi-annual water programme to enable moneys that have been returned to the Department, or are to be returned to the Department, from one scheme can be reallocated to another scheme that desperately needs it. There is a gravity-fed group scheme in Ballycroy and it is run by volunteers. What has happened is some of the volunteers have passed away so they are trying to reconfigure the volunteers in the parish to be able to apply for the necessary funding. There is a way to solve this. Mayo County Council applied for emergency funding earlier this year but was unsuccessful so we need emergency funding and some flexibility around the framework.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I also wish to raise the issue of water quality in Dublin Bay, for the umpteenth time. Every time there is a massive downpour like the ones we had very recently, rainfall water or stormwater mixes with sewage and pours into Dublin Bay. The pumping station at the west pier in Dún Laoghaire pumps stuff out to Ringsend but Ringsend does not have the capacity. It overflows, goes into Dublin Bay and then water quality is very seriously undermined.

I was looking at a question I asked back in 2019, and it was not the first time. Even then, the Government was promising it was going to upgrade Ringsend. That was 2019 and it still has not been done. It still happens every time it rains. It is unbelievable. When is the Government finally going to make sure that the upgrade at Ringsend and the rehabilitation of our decrepit water infrastructure, which is jeopardising water quality, swimmers and health and causing all sorts of bad, adverse problems, is going to be finally addressed by this Government?

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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I know the Taoiseach will reject the claim that rural Ireland is being left behind by his Government but many residents of the village of Ballyhooly in my constituency beg to differ. They have good reason to. The very basic need for a consistent supply of water to drink, bathe in or use in appliances such as dishwashers and showers has been denied to them for many years. Residents in Ballyhooly have to deal with extremely low water pressure alternating with a non-existent supply of water for prolonged periods. This has hit people with chronic illness, disability and age-related care needs the hardest. It has also severely impacted the local school and farming community. In recent months, there has been a reprieve from a full-scale outage but water pressure remains very low and there is no clear timeframe on the extent of works required to resolve the issue. Short-term fixes will no longer cut it for Ballyhooly. When are we going to see movement on this essential project that will allow the village to thrive?

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Along with my constituency colleague, I want to pay respects to those poor five souls, the young people who lost their lives in the car accident at the weekend: Chloe McGee, Shay Duffy, Alan McCluskey, Dylan Commins and Chloe Hipson. It is a desperate loss for their families, friends, work colleagues and everybody. I only hope their families can find the strength to walk along the pain and agony that comes upon a family when they lose someone so tragically. It seems almost futile and frivolous to mention it during a discussion on water quality.

I have raised on several occasions the state of the water and rivers around Dundalk Bay. Research was published recently in a local newsletter spelling out clearly issues around repeated sewage discharge and wastewater plants operating beyond capacity, with visible waste near Blackrock and protected habitats being steadily damaged. People are seeing it, smelling it and living beside it. As the Taoiseach knows, I raise these concerns regularly and I get very dismissive responses from Irish Water. I often feel almost gaslit by them. I hope that when the Cabinet committee is working on water quality with the infrastructure Department that it will consider fast-tracking projects to make sure our water quality is up to standard.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Keeping the lights and on and water in the taps is surely one of the basic responsibilities of any administration but we live in a country where that is simply not happening. For a country where it seldom stops raining, it hardly goes a week before there is a water or hosepipe ban in this country. In my county of Meath, things are out of control currently. As we speak, a burst mains causing major disruption in Navan. There are multiple outages every week in the system in Enfield. People in Trim can hardly turn the water taps on because of discoloured water or bans on water being used at certain times of the day, etc. Councillor Dave Boyne and I have had to campaign to get water trucks to bring water to other towns in the county. The Taoiseach talks about massive investment, which is welcome, but it is not making a difference on the ground because there are major problems for Irish Water to deliver on infrastructure in terms of planning, permits and tendering etc. When will those be fixed so we can get the system fixed?

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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I have raised this many times previously but the water quality in Clew Bay, County Mayo is being massively damaged at the moment. Raw sewage from Newport town is collected and stored in containers. When the high tide comes in to Clew Bay, it washes raw sewage on to the shoreline. Everyone is in agreement that a water treatment plant is needed for the town and it has been in the planning process for decades. There are significant issues in relation to the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, which is not meeting its statutory timelines, and indeed Uisce Éireann. It appears that what is happening is a letter-writing club between the two organisations, with no progress being made. I have raised this previously and I ask the Taoiseach to intervene. We cannot have critical infrastructure delayed for decades as a result. I have raised this with Uisce Éireann and MARA but it is time the Government intervened and injected some urgency into this.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank all of the Deputies. A comprehensive number spoke in respect of the responsibilities of Irish Water, particularly in terms of wastewater treatment plants and flood relief schemes.

Deputy 'Chap' Cleere raised the issue of a series of flood relief schemes in his constituency. I do not know why the planning process should take two years and that is something we need to analyse further but measures will come to Government in respect of critical infrastructure in the next number of weeks. Flood relief schemes are taking too long because the urgency is very real.

Given the worsening climate, we have more frequent storms and rainfall that is heavier and comes in short bursts and that is creating huge pressure on our systems. I have been to many flooding scenes where the devastation is appalling and negatively impacts on households and businesses. We then have consequential compensation schemes and everything we try to do to alleviate the pressure but there is nothing worse than being the victim of a flooding incident. I will take a look at those schemes and talk to the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Moran, to see how we can accelerate this. We are also looking at a critical infrastructure Bill and will see whether we can include wastewater and flood relief schemes.

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan raised the derogation and I fully agree with him that retaining the derogation is vital for farm families and for the food production system and the dairy industry. We need a sustainable farming industry but farmers are working with us on various water improvement schemes under the European Union framework and have being doing a lot to measure and assess this work. I have had discussions with the President of the European Commission explaining the unique position in Ireland because we have a pasture-based system that is outdoors more than indoors. Most other European systems are indoors. The Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, has been working with Commissioner Roswall, who came to Ireland last week. She met farmers in Kildare and saw first-hand the measures we are taking to make farming and agriculture more sustainable. We know farmers do need to know. I take the Deputy's point in respect of other contributors to waste and I met representatives of Irish Water recently in the context of the Cabinet subcommittee meeting. Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency were there as well. In my view, Irish Water has to get it right in respect of its own actions. It cannot contribute negatively to water quality, being a water body itself, nor can local authorities. They also certainly need to step up to the plate in protecting our waterways.

Deputy Murphy raised the issue of Balrothery estate in terms of sewerage overflow. Again, I will talk to Irish Water in respect of where that is at. We have allocated unprecedented resources to Irish Water as a result of the national development plan and we have given it multi-annual funding. Irish Water knows what its funding will be for the next five years, which should enable staff to get on, to plan and do things. There is a lot of work to be done. Our population is growing exponentially, and has grown during the past two decades. That is creating pressure on water services. What will be important as well, for those who correctly referenced wastewater treatment plants, is that we have to try to create a narrative and a consensus in society not to object to wastewater treatment plants, to their upgrade or to supply projects. An awful lot of these projects are getting snarled up in planning and being delayed for far too long. What is happening in the preparation of the schemes, stage III to stage IV, is that everybody is dotting the i's and crossing the t's because they are anticipating an objection or a judicial review so they want to make sure they can be resilient in the face of a court case being heard or a judicial review of a decision taken during the planning process. What we are getting is a very slow process in getting projects through. We will have to deal with that and the Government is determined to deal with that because we have to push ahead. Even on a small issue like apartment guidelines, and we had it earlier this afternoon during Leaders' Questions, we get public representatives judicially reviewing regulation. Then people complain about things not moving. We cannot have it our own way, every way, but that is a general comment on where we are and it is important.

Deputies Ó Murchú and McGreehan correctly articulated all of our shock and horror at the devastating accident in Louth. Five young lives were lost. They were going out for a nice evening. We are all parents and we are all afraid of something like that happening when our young people go out and so on and we all want them to come home. On this occasion, they did not come home and the impacts on the parents are beyond comprehension. It is very difficult for them. We hope the beautiful memories they had with their young children will sustain them in the time ahead. I thank the Deputies for raising this in the House.

In regard to Deputy McGuinness's contribution, I will talk to Irish Water. I cannot get involved in every single case. This relates to two houses. Surely the county council and Irish Water should knock heads together and get that issue sorted if the water mains are 500 m away.

Deputy Heneghan has left the Chamber. He has gone with the swimmers; I would say they are gone too. Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue of Dublin Bay as well. It is a very serious issue. E.coli levels are too high and when there is heavy rain. people cannot swim. That is not satisfactory. I am back to the issue that we need wastewater treatment plants. The whole Dublin water project is being judicially reviewed. The Arklow wastewater treatment plant was conceived at the same time as the Dublin scheme. It has opened - I opened it - and the Dublin scheme has not even gotten off the ground. There are other projects of that kind we need to get off the ground and to get going. The points were well made by Deputies Boyd Barrett and Heneghan in that regard.

In terms of the drinking water regulation and the 500 households, again it is a specific issue and I will talk to Irish Water in respect of that.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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That is not Irish Water

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Is it a group scheme?

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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It is a group scheme.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy wants flexibility in the multi-annual funding. I will talk to the Minister to see whether there is anything that can be done there or not.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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Thank you.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a combination of issues in terms of the reconstitution of the group of volunteers. Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue that Ringsend does not have capacity. We have been engaging and have appointed-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It has been going on for years.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I know and we have allocated billions of euro now so hopefully we can get it done.

Deputy Quaide raised the issue of Balyhooly and the basic quality of water. I have spoken to Irish Water representatives about the Cork situation more generally in terms of water quality issues and they are working on that.

Deputy McGreehan again raised the issue of habitats and Dundalk Bay. Again, I asked Irish Water to engage with public representatives. All State agencies should engage with public representatives in a respectful and engaging way and should give proper responses. The State funds these agencies. In many ways they are created as agencies to get things done but that should not absolve the agencies then of their responsibilities to communicate to democratically elected Deputies and Senators or indeed councillors on the local authorities as well. I will have a look at what the story is in Dundalk Bay.

Deputy Tóibín raised the issue of Trim again in terms of keeping the taps on and water quality. Again, it relates to wider issues. They had the plan, we have now funded the plan, and the issue now is getting things done as quickly as we can.

Deputy Lawless raised Clew Bay and Newport. Again, it is about getting the infrastructure in place as quickly as we can. I will relay all of those to Irish Water for a response.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Taoiseach. We will move to the next questions, which is the grouping of Question Nos. 17 to 31, inclusive, to ask the Taoiseach for a report on the work of the shared island unit. We have 17 minutes and 14 seconds left.