Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators who contributed to the discussion on amendment No. 23, which proposes that the public water forum shall have a role in recommending that Irish Water "issue public health notices in respect of water quality". Section 5 of the Bill provides the forum with a wide range of functions including the broad function of providing Irish Water with "comments and suggestions in relation to the performance by Irish Water of its functions".

The issue of drinking water and public health is dealt with under legislation through the European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2014. These regulations set out a range of standards which the water supply must meet and include matters such as lead, E.coli and many other contaminants. Irish Water must comply with these regulations. In the event of non-compliance with the quality standards set out in the aforementioned regulations, Irish Water is required to investigate the cause and notify the EPA. If a potential risk to human health exists, Irish Water must consult the HSE, ensure that its customers are informed and take appropriate remedial action. Accordingly, the matter raised in this amendment is already the responsibility of other existing statutory bodies and that is why I will not be accepting it.

In fairness to Senator Ó Clochartaigh, he spoke with both knowledge and passion on this issue because he has been dealing with it at a personal level. It is a serious issue, to be frank. There are water quality issues in a number of areas of the country, including Tralee and elsewhere. It is frightening to see problems coming to light in so many different and disparate areas. All of these water quality problems must be dealt with as a matter of priority.

On the issue of trihalomethanes, known as THMs, Irish Water has put in place a number of measures to deal with breaches. It is making good progress in this regard, which must be acknowledged. It has developed a new formation potential monitoring programme and a new monitoring programme to ensure compliance with mandatory standards. Many investigations are taking place which are detecting THM breaches. The EPA has also prepared guidance on investigations.

The public water forum can make comments and recommendations on Irish Water functions relating to customers' experience and how the company deals with customers, as set out in section 7 (5) (b). It is important to point out that the EPA has a statutory responsibility to supervise Irish Water's performance in the supply of clean drinking water and we cannot override that. It is set out clearly in the European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations. An important component of that responsibility is to keep the public informed.

We cannot override that. I am concerned about regulatory stretch as regards multiple organisations and clear lines of division, although I accept that the amendment has been tabled for the right reasons. Paragraph 5 of the statutory instrument relating to European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations provides that it is a legal requirement of Irish Water to inform its customers where there is a breach of statutory standards. Should the company not do something - that should not happen - the Environmental Protection Agency can direct the company to do something. It is important to say that. It is important to point out the responsibilities and roles of Irish Water, the EPA and the HSE. I have no wish to see a stretch in terms of regulatory conditioning or responsibility. It is more important that these organisations work together and adhere to everything for which they are legally responsible, and that they do so in the appropriate manner to ensure public health is protected. It is important to ensure that takes place in the correct fashion, comprehensively and by dealing with all the issues of which people spoke passionately in this Chamber.

This is something close to my heart and something I take seriously. Water quality is something I take extremely seriously. It is something I am passionate about, given experiences that I have been told about and experiences I know of having grown up where I grew up. I grew up by the lakes of Lough Derg and I still live there. When I was growing up I learned to swim in Lough Derg. It was a fantastic and brilliant place to grow up, and the water quality was fine. However, the amount of people swimming in Lough Derg now is minuscule. It is unfortunate that it is not at the level it was, because of various issues in respect of pollution and so on. My family lived beside the lake. Dogs tend to drift, and our dogs drank the water in an old L-shaped currach harbour and died as a result. Cleaning up the water and ensuring we have water quality in place for generations to come is an absolute passion of mine.

It is critical to ensure that all the organisations working in the area do their job and that the relevant protocols are in place through the regulations from Europe. I should point out that they are good regulations. They need to be introduced incrementally rather than in one big slap-bang. The organisations need to work within those regulations to preserve our water quality. I accept the bona fides of the amendment, but we do not need to have more and more regulatory crossover, especially for something so critical to human health.