Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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563. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has considered daily testing of bathing sites in circumstances in which there has been recurrent sewage and pollution issues such as in Kilkee, County Clare. [30614/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Monitoring at Kilkee Beach shows that it has excellent water quality.

However, as a result of the recent increase in people swimming and beach users generally, I have tasked the Bathing Water Expert Group with examining potential increases to the frequency of bathing water monitoring and improving the dissemination of results to improve information for people swimming. I have also requested that the Expert Group consider the issues related to changing the bathing water season, taking into account the current review by the European Commission of the Bathing Water Directive.

The EPA as the environmental regulator makes sure that local authorities carry out their functions under the Bathing Water Regulations to monitor bathing waters, to warn of pollution events and to take action where there are water quality issues. The EPA share the latest information provided by local authorities with the public through www.beaches.ie. I would encourage all bathers to use the information on this dedicated website before going swimming, and to always follow the advice of the HSE and Department of Health in relation to social distancing protocols when at the beach.

The Bathing Water Regulations 2008 (as amended), transpose the requirements of the 2006 Bathing Water Directive (BWD) into national legislation. These regulations set the framework for the effective management of bathing waters around the country. The regulations also aim to improve health protection for bathers and ensure adequate information is disseminated in a timely manner during the bathing season.

Currently in Ireland there are almost 150 designated bathing waters identified by local authorities with the help of public consultation. The water quality in these areas is monitored during the bathing season. The regulations define the bathing season to mean the period from 1st June to 15th September in any calendar year and also set out the sampling and monitoring requirements for all designated bathing waters.

The bathing water report for 2020, published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states that 96% of bathing waters met or exceeded the minimum required standard. This is up from 95% in 2019 and improvements in bathing water quality are welcome and necessary.