Press Release: Environment 19 April 2007

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Govt shamed into debate on water bill as Green Party publishes water quality proposals

The Green Party today said the Government had been shamed into hastily organising a last-minute debate on its water services bill, which has been otherwise neglected for the last four years.

At a press conference in Ely CHQ in Dublin this morning, Party Leader Trevor Sargent TD said: "The Government has been forced – in the last weeks of its existence – to bring this vital legislation before the Dáil. It has dragged its feet for four years, while water supplies in Galway, Ennis and elsewhere reached crisis point. Only now that public health has been so severely threatened, and without any other options, has the Government woken up to the dire state of water in Ireland. The Government – and Minister Roche in particular – has sleepwalked into this crisis because it has been unwilling to make some of the tough choices needed to safeguard our water supplies.

"At a time of unparallel economic prosperity, this Government has failed to deliver even the most basic and vital of public services. Their re-election would be a major step backwards, not forwards.

"It appears that everybody except the Irish Government knew how seriously polluted this country's water supplies have become. Local people, residents, anglers, the EPA and the European authorities have been warning about the state of our drinking water for years. The Government has lost two cases on water pollution in the European Court of Justice and faces another three, with likely fines to follow. One of these cases deals with water pollution in Wicklow, Dublin, Letterkenny, Sligo and Tramore. The recent outbreak of cryptosporidium in Galway, I'm afraid, is only the tip of the iceberg."

Environment spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD said: "Minister Dick Roche's record on water quality is abysmal. He is culpable on at least three counts: he has failed to protect Ireland's natural environment, and critically, its water sources; he has let development run far ahead of the infrastructure and services necessary to support it; and he has failed to properly direct, fund and, where necessary, sanction, the local authorities who have shown themselves to be unable to provide adequate water and sewage services.
 

"Rather than recycle figures on how much money he is willing to throw at the water crisis we want to see the Government enact the Water Services Bill when the Dáil resumes next week and establish a national emergency plan to update each of the water treatment plants identified by the EPA last week as 'substandard'.

"This Government's legacy of bad, developer-led planning must be reversed, with all future development taking environmental and infrastructural concerns into consideration. The 2004 decision to weaken protection of Special Areas of Conservation – like Lough Corrib – and allow agricultural activity within 3m instead of 30m of sensitive waters should also be reversed.

"The Galway outbreak has made the case to boost the powers and financial autonomy of local authorities, with directly elected mayors with executive powers and responsibilities."
"The Government should also ensure that septic tanks are inspected on a regular basis. They have the potential to pollute groundwater. They are time bomb waiting to go off."