Barry Ward (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to deal with this matter. The sewerage system in Dublin, particularly in south Dublin, is Victorian. When I say "south Dublin", I refer to an area of Dublin around Dún Laoghaire, Blackrock and further south that experienced extraordinary development during the Victorian era. The sewerage system built at that time still services that area. They can just about cope with what is there at the moment but any increase in the system causes problems. At the moment, all of the sewerage from that area in south Dublin drains through two points. One is the pumping station at the back of the west pier in Dún Laoghaire. A pipe under the seabed moves that material to Poolbeg for treatment at the sewerage treatment plant there before it is discharged, having been cleaned, into the sea. The difficulty is that the Victorian system means that included in the sewerage system is run-off from roads and so on. When there is a heavy rainfall event, the sewers very quickly become overburdened.There is at the west pier what is called an attenuation tank, which is a huge area under the ground that, in the event of an overflow, takes the excess water that runs off from roads and allows it to be treated at a later date. When there is a heavy rainfall event, even that tank cannot cope with the amount of water coming off roads and streets all over south Dublin. When it fills and the water has nowhere to go, it flows into the sea. That means raw sewage is occasionally discharged directly into Dublin Bay at places like Seapoint. What happens at Seapoint? People go swimming. We have a major problem now. Although the water quality in Dublin Bay is generally excellent, we have a number of swimming spots from Blackrock to Seapoint and south of Dún Laoghaire to places like the old Dún Laoighaire baths, Sandycove, the Forty Foot, Coliemore Harbour in Dalkey, Vico baths and Killiney Bay. All of that water is connected so when there is a discharge of raw sewage into the bay, it affects the water quality along that whole stretch.

In order to deal with that, in 2008 the Bathing Water Quality Regulations were introduced and they placed a duty on local authorities to regularly test the water. Those regulations also defined the bathing season as being from 1 June to 15 September. We know that is not the only time of year when people go swimming or the only time of year when local authorities should be testing the water quality. I and others have long campaigned for a change to that and this year the Minister for housing put in place the Bathing Water Quality (Amendment) Regulations, SI 322/2024. They changed the definition of the bathing season to the period identified by the local authority as when a large number of people are swimming, essentially. Local authorities now have the power to extend the bathing season beyond that arbitrary period of 1 June to 15 September and test the water all year round. That testing takes place once per week during the summer bathing season.

The problem is none of the local authorities has changed the bathing season. I do not know what they are waiting for. We know people swim all year round. One of the most famous swimming events in south Dublin is the Christmas Day dip at the Forty Foot. Everybody knows about that. If we know people are swimming all year round, and doing so in great numbers every morning at places like the Forty Foot, why are local authorities not changing the bathing season to recognise the realities of the situation?

I call on the Minister of State to tell the Department it should press upon local authorities to take a realistic approach and re-evaluate when bathing occurs so water testing can take place all year round in a real way and people are informed before they go swimming in the sea.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. As a keen sea swimmer, I fully endorse this Commencement matter.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I am dealing with this on behalf of the Minister for housing. I thank Senator Ward for raising this important issue with regard to the requirement on local authorities to define the bathing season for the designated bathing sites in their jurisdiction. The Bathing Water Quality (Amendment) Regulations, which were published on 28 June 2024, were brought into law to facilitate the local authorities in defining the bathing season within their jurisdiction on an annual basis.

In accordance with the regulations, the local authorities are required to identify all bathing waters and define the length of the bathing season before the start of that season and not later than 24 March each year. The local authorities are required to do this for the first time since the publication of the regulations no later than 24 March 2025. I am informed that the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, is developing guidance for local authorities to help them define the bathing season in line with the requirements of the regulations.

I take this opportunity to mention that water quality sampling is carried out by local authorities around Dublin Bay all year round and the results are published on local authority websites. They are also published on the EPA’s beaches.ie website. Additionally, local authorities post the results of water quality monitoring on the noticeboards at each beach.

That is the reply I received. I am not familiar with all the regulations. I was asked to deputise for the Minister for housing. The response is about the new regulations which have come into place. Local authorities must have set out clearly by 24 March 2025 the timing of the season.

Barry Ward (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge he is deputising for another Minister but that is a real pro forma answer. Talking about identifying bathing spots and when people use them by 24 March 2025 is a little bit of a nonsense. If Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council wants help identifying the places people are swimming, I will tell the council now. As to when people are swimming, the answer is "Every day". I go to the Forty Foot regularly. Every day there are people there at all hours. During daylight, there is no time when there are not people swimming there. That is one example and the same is true of Vico baths and Dún Laoghaire. The answer is "All year round". Yes, they test all year round and publish the results but the frequency of testing goes down to less than half during the winter period and the time required to get the results back means people go swimming without knowing a test conducted two days beforehand has shown significant levels of bacteria in the water.

This is a problem and it is not okay to shrug it off onto local authorities. The Departments needs to tell them to get the finger out and make those decisions now. There is no real doubt about where and when people swim in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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It is an important issue and I will convey that to the Department. The response I received sets out that water quality sampling is carried out by local authorities around Dublin Bay all year round. The Senator obviously disagrees with that. I will convey his concerns to the Department about ensuring proper monitoring 52 weeks of the year. That is important but it is important as well that the new regulations have come into place. It is now up to the local authorities to publish guidance on the matter and they must do that by 24 March 2025.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Ward and I thank the Minister of State for his time this morning and for taking all four Commencement matters. It is appreciated.