Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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119. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of tonnes of raw sewage that are allowed to flow into the waters here; the beaches which are most affected by this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21226/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels for public water services, including the delivery of water services capital infrastructure, encompassing the management of urban waste water collection and treatment infrastructure.  All discharges to the aquatic environment from sewerage systems owned, managed and operated by Irish Water require a waste water discharge licence or certificate of authorisation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The authorisation process provides for the EPA to place stringent conditions on the operation of such discharges to ensure that potential effects on the receiving water bodies are strictly limited and controlled, in line with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive which sets out requirements for the collection, treatment and discharge of urban waste water with the objective of protecting the environment from the adverse effects of waste water discharges.

The EPA is the key statutory body for investigating complaints of pollution and for the enforcement, both directly and through oversight of local authorities, of environmental legislation in Ireland, including compliance in relation to licensed urban waste water discharges.  Details of all prosecutions taken by the EPA for pollution incidents and details of its enforcement activities are published on the EPA's website ().

In its recent report Ireland's Environment: An Assessment 2016, the EPA notes that untreated sewage was discharged from 45 areas in 2014, mostly estuaries or coastal areas, with 27 of these located in counties Cork, Donegal and Galway and three of the total number of discharges having been resolved by the end of 2015.  A copy of the report is available on the EPA website at the following link: http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/indicators/SoE_Report_2016.pdf.  It is important to note, however, that the quality of Ireland's bathing waters in general is very high, with just over 93% of identified bathing waters meeting the minimum EU standards for "sufficient" water quality over the period 2012 to 2015.  Of these, 83% were classified as of either "excellent" or "good" water quality.

The EPA report, however, outlines why significant and sustained investment in the public water and wastewater systems is needed.  Historical under-investment in water infrastructure in Ireland now means that Irish Water has major issues to address in the coming years.  Bringing Ireland into full compliance with the Urban Waste Water Directive is a priority, but it will take a number of years of sustained investment to achieve this.