Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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While the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on 25 January that Ireland had failed to fully implement the Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC), it is important to note that the Court’s findings refer to the historical position in September 2020. Considerable progress has been made since then to the water supplies concerned in this case.

The ruling is in relation to breaches of the limit for Trihalomethanes (THMs) in drinking water in (30) drinking water supplies. The European Commission’s case was upheld in respect of 21 Uisce Éireann water supplies and 9 private group water supplies. 18 of these 30 water supplies have already had capital upgrades completed to ensure that treatment levels are compliant with the requirements of the Drinking Water Directive. The remainder are undergoing capital upgrades and improvements and are due to be completed by the end of 2026.

There are over 1,000 water supplies in Ireland. Overall, Ireland has good drinking water quality. In its Drinking Water Quality Report for 2022, which was published in 2023, the EPA confirmed that “water quality from public supplies remains high and consumers can be confident that it is safe to drink” and “compliance rates are consistently high year to year” with over 99.7% of samples compliant with bacterial and chemical limits in 2022.

My Department continues to work closely with Uisce Éireann, the EPA, local authorities and the National Federation of Group Water Schemes to resolve issues and risks with water supplies.