Results 3,061-3,080 of 5,580 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: I have one block of seven minutes for myself so I can give the Deputy one minute if he wants it. We have Irish Water at 4.30 p.m.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: I will come in with the last eight minutes for myself. I want to turn to the issue of bathing water quality. We have not covered it in depth. In 2019 there was a series of meetings between Dublin city councillors, the HSE, Irish Water and the EPA, regarding some concerns around bathing water quality. It was very unfortunate that on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Liffey...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Can Ms Gurrie clarify who issues the restrictions on bathing between the EPA and the HSE?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: That relies on the testing regime of the local authority which then informs the HSE if an excess level is found. Is it the HSE's decision as to whether there should be a prohibition on bathing or not?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Open water swimming is a particularly active group; the Liffey swim being the culmination of that sector. Is Dr. Mulholland aware of any liaison with those organisations at local authority level to ensure any concerns are well-addressed? The organisation of this event is really complex yet in the case of 2019, the local authority only informed the HSE the night before the event. This puts...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Can I turn to similar incidents in that year which resulted in disruption to water supply because of a human error in the Fingal area. My memory of it was that an alarm sounded but there was not the appropriate human intervention at that time. That comes down to the training and the capacity of local authority staff or what would be Irish Water staff. Has the HSE engaged with Irish Water...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Perhaps the largest number Dublin has seen.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Is automation one option to prevent human error?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: I am conscious of time and having to speak to everybody else. I visited Ballymore Eustace, for example, and am very conscious of the strategic importance - in terms of national security - of such a facility. While there is fantastic work being done there by the staff, it has to be said that it is a very low-security environment. From a risk management perspective, has there been any...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: I would say even an amateur version of Google Maps would assist people in discovering some of those locations. Perhaps this is not a question for now, and maybe the witnesses did not prepare for it, but if they had any information on this that they could share with the committee, I think it would be useful. We talk about water quality but, in respect of national security, one could take out...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Particularly in light of the cybersecurity attack from which the HSE is probably still recovering, it is not as remote a prospect as we thought it might have been.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: We are due to take Irish Water at 4.30 p.m., but Senator Boyhan-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Speaking of cumulative effects, we have run over time. I thank our witnesses from the EPA and the HSE for their answers. We will now suspend the meeting for a moment, which will allow our witnesses from Irish Water to take their seats.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: I thank the witnesses from Irish Water who are joining us on the issue of water quality and supply. We are joined by Mr. Niall Gleeson, Ms Angela Ryan, Mr. Tom Cuddy and Mr. Seán Laffey. Their statement has been circulated to members, so I ask them to stay within five minutes for their opening remarks. As the witnesses were not here for the previous session, I will repeat my remarks...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: I must ask you to conclude, if you can please.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Thank you Mr. Gleeson. We will now move on to questions. Each member has seven minutes for both questions and answers. I will take the first slot myself. Mr. Gleeson has outlined some of the improvements that Irish Water has made, but having heard previous speakers from the EPA and the HSE, there is no doubt that there is a significant challenge remaining, with more than 500,000 people...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: You have alluded to the fact that there are environmental elements associated with bogs and so on. Is it that there are factors that are unique to Ireland or is this related to the unsatisfactory systems in place in our water treatment network?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: The first time a member of the public becomes aware that there might be an issue is if there is discoloration, a smell or a taste in the water. The EPA and the HSE outlined their role in the overall process in terms of issuing boil water notices and so on. How does Irish Water escalate reports that come into its call centre? In recent weeks, for example, across Clontarf, some parts of the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Were those measures taken in this case?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)
Paul McAuliffe: Do you know how many households were impacted by it?