Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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119. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the grants that are available to a local rural water scheme to combat nitrates in the supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33655/21]

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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121. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the options open to a rural water scheme that does not wish to join the public scheme; if it can avail of grants to upgrade its own supply; if not, if the scheme can be instructed that its only option is to join the public scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33657/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 119 and 121 together.

My Department’s Rural Water Programme provides capital and operational funding to group water schemes. The day-to-day administration of the Programme is devolved to local authorities.

The Multi-annual Rural Water Programme provides capital funding under a number of measures to enable group water schemes to resolve infrastructural deficiencies in particular those that are causing or risk water quality issues in their supply.

An annual subsidy is payable by local authorities to group water schemes towards their operational and management costs of supplying water for domestic use.

Both the capital and operational grants enable schemes to supply water that is compliant with the quality standard required by the European Union (Drinking Water Regulations, 2014 (the Regulations) as amended, on a consistent long-term basis.

Details of capital and operational funding are available on the Gov.ie website at the link under or from the local authority concerned:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/a524a-group-water-schemes-and-rural-water-issues/#

Information on the scope and terms and conditions of the annual subsidy were provided to local authorities under Circular L2/18, on 8 August 2018.

Information on the scope of capital grants and their amounts under the current Multi-annual Rural Water Programme 2019-2021 were provided to local authorities under Circular L1/19, on 8 February 2019.

Drinking water suppliers, including group water schemes, must supply water that is compliant with the quality standards stated in the Regulations. Nitrate is one of the quality standards – called parameters – that must be complied with under the Regulations.

In order to avail of funding under the multi-annual programme schemes are expected to adopt the most sustainable approach to resolution of issues. In certain circumstances the most sustainable solution will be the interconnection and taking in charge of the scheme by Irish Water. Measure 5.(a) of the multi-annual programme provides for the resolution of quality deficient private group water schemes where connection to the public supply is the only technical and economical viable option to secure improvements in the supply.

The Regulations prescribe quality standards to be applied, and related supervision and enforcement procedures, for drinking water supplies. In the case of group water schemes the supervisory authority is the local authority. The supervisory authority has powers under the Regulations to serve a direction on a water supplier requiring them to prepare an action programme to resolve water quality issues and submit it for the approval of the supervisory authority. A supervisory authority may amend an action programme submitted to it before approving it.