Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern. This is an important Bill, but I wish to qualify my remarks by saying that previous departmental funding for upgrading private group water schemes was very welcome. Prior to the provision of such funding some older group schemes were not working effectively due to leaks and so on and this funding ensured people were provided with quality water.

Some aspects of the Bill, to which other Senators also referred, worry me. Are we complicating the process? Local authorities have done an excellent job in providing and improving water services in most counties. We are creating a new service authority within the local authority structure. Why is it necessary to create a new structure when the water and sanitary services sections of local authorities work so well? This gives rise to suspicion and the Minister must clarify the reason for it. There are vague side-swipes at local authorities as is the pattern of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government's dealings with local authorities and local authority members. The Minister interferes and I believe this is a further interference. Is the Minister suspicious of the quality of water being delivered? I ask the Minister of State to bring to the Minister's attention that some local authorities are guilty of supplying very poor quality water. The case I know best is the water supply from Lough Derg on the River Shannon. Lough Derg supplies many adjacent towns and is one of the most highly polluted lakes in Ireland. There are two State agencies involved, the local authorities and Bord na Móna. Bord na Móna has changed its practices and eliminated most of the pollutants but the local authorities in counties Westmeath and Longford have not. At Portumna, the lake is at its worst. Individuals and industry are blamed when the State has to take responsibility for the source of greatest pollution in the past.

In spite of numerous requests Kinvara, a town on the County Galway coast, is allowed to discharge raw sewage directly into Galway Bay, where there are valuable oyster beds. Studies by the marine section of NUI Galway have clearly indicated the reckless danger involved in allowing this to continue. I am flagging this as highly dangerous. We are striving for blue flag status for bathing areas throughout the country. Tracht Beach, beside Kinvara, has been awarded a blue flag only because natural currents take the polluted water away from the beach. We must move quickly on such pollution. Some coastal towns, including Kinvara, which is a classic example, do not currently have proper sewerage systems. It is a disgrace to discharge untreated sewage into Galway Bay and it cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.

Mudslides have occurred recently in the hills above Derrybrien and, unfortunately, they entered a local river that feeds into Lough Cutra, which provides the water supply for Gort. At the time the mudslides occurred, the situation was critical but the threat of pollution re-emerges each time there is a shower of rain because of the discharge and run-off into the river. The quality of drinking water in Gort during that time was so dangerous that the local authority had to bore for an emergency supply of water. That situation cannot be allowed to continue. While the immediate danger has subsided, many funding requests have been made to public representatives both locally and nationally, and to the Minister, to allow the local authority to improve the current precarious position. The Minister of State should bring this matter to the notice of his officials so that urgent funding can be provided to Galway County Council to carry out the necessary works to guarantee a high quality water supply for Gort.

If the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government was proactive in consulting bodies, such as the National Roads Authority, it could provide mains piping adjacent to main routes, at low cost, from one urban area to another. If the work is done later on, however, the local authorities will have to lay piping through thoroughfares and across developed sites on rezoned land. If we are serious about forward planning for the development of water services, an ideal structure is presenting itself in many places whereby main water supplies can be provided cheaply in consultation with the NRA.

If one wants to lay pipes along a main thoroughfare from one town or village to another, the requirements of the NRA with regard to the restoration of hard shoulders along such roads involve prohibitive expense because costs have rocketed. A request has been made to the Minister of State's Department concerning the Loughrea bypass, which is currently being constructed after a long delay. In order to service the newly rezoned land along the outer limits of Loughrea, an ideal opportunity exists for the supply of mains water and the treatment of waste water, given the new sewerage works for Loughrea, which can be installed at low cost to provide for future development. Proactive planning is required so that developers can have ready access to such facilities for industrial, commercial and residential development. That is preferable to ripping up streets in order to provide new water supplies, as is the case in many parts of the country.

The signals emanating from the legislation and the Minister's speech are confusing and contradictory. In his speech the Minister stated, "The primary purpose of the Bill is to set down a comprehensive modern legislative code governing functions, standards, obligations and practice concerning the planning, management and delivery of water supply and waste water collection and treatment services".

However, the Bill's explanatory memorandum states that "The Bill concerns itself only with the actual provision of water services". Will the Minister explain that serious contradiction in his intentions? It is understandable that, due to the Minister's record concerning local authorities their members, many people could be suspicious about what his next move will be after the elections in June.