Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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701. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 1301 of 13 May 2020, the discussions he has had with Irish Water regarding drought conditions; when these discussions took place; the contingency plans in place; and if he is drawing up plans and policies on water scarcity and drought. [10003/20]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My officials kept me informed since March in relation to the water supply situation arising from the current dry spell and the risks of encountering a situation much like the one faced in the summer of 2018. Officials from my Department are also maintaining ongoing close contact with Irish Water and the National Federation of Group Water Schemes throughout this period. With the impact of the drought conditions continuing, my Department has now reconvened the Water Quality Sub-Group that sat during the drought period in 2018.

Chaired by my Department, this multi-agency drought response coordination group considered the issues arising from the extended period of warm weather at its first meeting on Thursday, 4th June 2020. The group will meet again today (Tuesday, 9th June).

This group facilitates communication between relevant organisations and provides a means of coordinating the actions taken in response to the drought conditions.

The group consists of Irish Water, National Federation of Group Water Schemes, Inland Fisheries Ireland, the Health Service Executive, the Office of Public Works, the ESB, Met Éireann, and the EPA, and representatives from the local authority sector.

The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, under the remit of my Department, is also keeping the situation under review and can escalate the response as necessary. At present, issues will continue to be managed by the relevant sectors under the increased level of co-ordination referred to above, as is appropriate to the current situation.

As the body with statutory responsibility for all aspects of public water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels, Irish Water has a dedicated Drought Management Team which it activates during periods of shortages and droughts to assess and monitor demand on water supplies.

Following their recent public information campaign urging the public to conserve water, Irish Water has now issued a national Water Conservation Order (more commonly known as a hosepipe ban) with effect from Tuesday, 09 June 2020. The Order is being put in place following increased demand on water supplies and the deteriorating drought conditions. More information on what is being done and what the public can do to lessen the pressures on water supplies is available at www.water.ie/water-supply/water-shortages/.

Looking beyond the current dry period, the National Development Plan supports significant investment to deliver robust and reliable water supplies that are climate resilient and that meet both current and future demands. Under the Plan, the Government has committed €8.5 billion to improving the public water system. Of this €2.9bn is aimed at providing a safe and reliable water supply, which includes a national programme of investment to tackle leakage through the find and fix initiative (active leakage control). Over €500m is targeted at water mains rehabilitation.