Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It was W.H. Auden who said, "Thousands have lived without love, not one without water." I am not suggesting that any of us should live without some love in our lives but we certainly would not live without having access to water.

I commend my colleagues from the Green Party, namely, Senators Garvey and Martin, on bringing this motion before the House today. It is very important and certainly one that my party supports without any shadow of a doubt. It is consistent with the comprehensive water quality commitments set out in the programme for Government.

The overall policy approach of the Government is based on a shared understanding that a significant programme of transformation is absolutely necessary to ensure that modern and effective systems for the delivery of water and wastewater services develop over time in Ireland. Indeed, in my town in Newbridge at the moment, we have roadworks all over the place because of the delivery of a €38 million project extending the water and wastewater system. While we can constantly be negative about roadworks or being stopped in our paths in terms of traversing the town, it is still absolutely crucial to recognise the importance of that investment in the infrastructure and how important it is that we all have access to a safe and secure supply of water.

Many of us will have had experiences otherwise. I remember, perhaps ten years ago in Rathangan, that for four full days nobody in the village had access to any water whatsoever in the middle of the hot summer. When something like that impacts on us, we know absolutely to our detriment how important and vital water is to our very being. While the supply of water to our homes is hugely important, having clean water around us is also essential. I am very lucky to live close to a canal and a river. We see the water sports that are available and we have seen so many people, particularly over the last 12 months, rediscovering swimming, etc. It is important that all our waterways are kept clean in order that we can all avail of them in the way we wish.

This motion, therefore, is an opportunity to set out the progress that is being made on our water services by the Government. It is fair to say and to acknowledge that strong progress is being made on the broad range of water policy commitments aimed at developing and improving water services and protecting the quality of our water environment by advancing appropriate policy and legislative reforms, and by strengthening our investment programmes.

I know the Government recently approved a policy paper on Irish Water and that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, brought forward a further paper to the Cabinet committee on the environment on proposals for Ireland's third river basin plan. The infrastructure is hugely important. I know this is close to the Minister of State's heart. Rolling out the necessary networks in rural Ireland are hugely important. Allenwood South is an area that has grown quite substantially in recent years.Unfortunately, there has been no extension of the waste water system there although it has been waiting for the past 15 years. A predecessor of mine, the late Deputy Michael Fitzpatrick, spoke many times in this Chamber about that necessity. Newtown in Rathangan is another area in which there has been a lot of development but they are all single houses with their own septic tanks and we should have moved on from that at this point.

The substantial investment that is already earmarked as part of the national development plan is of great importance but we need to look more at some rural areas. The national development plan estimates that close to €14 billion will be required over the period from now to the mid-2030s. This is to meet known investment needs to support the continued operation, repair and upgrading of the country's water and waste water infrastructure, to support social and economic development and most importantly, the protection of the water environment.

I know the Department is currently working with partners across the Government to ensure that Ireland's third river basin management plan delivers on our obligation to reverse decline in water quality - that is extremely important – including through coherence with actions to address climate change and biodiversity objectives. There is a need to invest in developing a legislative code for the water environment that is fit for purpose and addresses the many issues identified by the European Commission in its infringement actions against Ireland, while also giving effect to updated directives on drinking water and urban waste water.