Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Byrne for his Commencement matter on this very important issue. In a letter to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage last week, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, outlined two serious incidents in recent weeks that occurred in drinking water plants. These were in the Ballymore Eustace water treatment plant which serves parts of Dublin city, and the plant that serves Gorey in County Wexford, as the Senator referenced. In the case of Gorey, the incident included illnesses detected by the HSE in the community served by that water supply. It is important to note these incidents have been rectified and the water supply from the two plants is now safe to drink.

In its letter, the EPA stated an abject failure in management oversight, operational control and responsiveness at two public water treatment plants had allowed unsafe water to enter the public drinking water supply and endanger public health. As the Senator quite rightly pointed out, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Government find the failures identified by the EPA unacceptable. People's safety is paramount. Following receipt of the letter, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, met the managing director of Irish Water as well as the chief executives of Dublin City Council and Wexford County Council at the weekend. The Minister has requested that Irish Water immediately undertake an audit of water treatment plants throughout the country. It will prioritise the largest 20 treatment plants, visiting each of them to ensure proper processes are in place to deal with and escalate any incident that may arise. This is key to having public confidence in our water treatment plants.

Irish Water's managing director and the local authority chief executives assured the Minister of their full co-operation and that their organisations would work together in full co-operation to put in place any urgent and necessary corrective measures. Irish Water will work with each local authority in the coming two weeks to conduct refresher training on incident reporting for all plants throughout the country. Where appropriate, Irish Water will put its own staff on site to ensure the continued safety of water treatment plants.

Ultimately there are limitations to the current working arrangements between Irish Water and local authorities and this is impacting on the delivery of services. One of the first initiatives the Minister advanced on taking office was to develop a Government policy paper on the steps required to transform Irish Water into a proper unified national utility. A process is under way with the Workplace Relations Commission to deliver transformation of this service. The Minister has also requested that Irish Water and local authorities take further steps to improve Irish Water's control of all water service plants in the immediate term pending the implementation of the agreed longer-term operational and staffing arrangements. On 4 October, the Minister will again meet Irish Water and local authorities on this very question.