Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the contention about the great County Kildare. I have Kildare blood in me too. It is a fantastic county.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. It is of deep concern to us all. The recent issues at both the Ballymore Eustace and Gorey water treatment plants gave rise to genuine concerns regarding operational failures at these plants as identified by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA.

At the outset, I can assure the Senator that at recent meetings with the managing director of Irish Water and the chief executives of Dublin City Council and Wexford County Council, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, was informed that both treatment plants are stable, operating normally and are producing clean and wholesome water.

The Minister requested that Irish Water undertake audits on the largest water treatment plants in the State serving the majority of the population. These are now complete and refresher training has been provided to the operatives at these plants. In addition, refresher training is being provided to all local authority management and engineers who are then cascading this training to all operatives and technical staff in all 800-plus water treatment plants nationwide.

In the longer term, ensuring security of water supply requires fit-for-purpose working arrangements and appropriate investment. As to the limitations to the current working arrangements between Irish Water and local authorities, a process is now under way in the Workplace Relations Commission to deliver the transformation of this service so that Irish Water has full control of the water services workforce and is therefore fully responsible and accountable for the delivery of the service.

On funding, as part of budget 2022 the Government will be investing more than €1.57 billion to support water services next year. This includes more than €1.4 billion for domestic water services provision by Irish Water. This is part of the commitment under the national development plan for €6 billion of capital investment to be undertaken by Irish Water in the period 2021-25.

We should note that the recast EU drinking water directive, adopted on 16 December 2020, updates the obligations on member states regarding the provision of water intended for human consumption. The objective of this directive is to protect human health from the adverse effects of any contamination of water intended for human consumption by ensuring that it is wholesome and clean, and to improve access to water intended for human consumption. This will be achieved through a number of measures including the introduction of a risk-based approach to water supply that incorporates drinking water safety plans. A programme of drinking water safety planning is currently under way as part of Irish Water's water services strategic plan.

I assure the Senator that we acknowledge there were clear and unacceptable failings here in terms of communication. People took ill from what happened at these plants. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, acted swiftly with Irish Water, with the local authorities and with local government in general to ensure that incidents of this nature do not happen again