Dáil Contribution on Water Policy

I fully intend to bring the Ceann Comhairle on a tour of Waterford shortly, but I will begin with an obtuse metaphor because I know he also enjoys them. When thinking of water infrastructure, I strangely think about the difference between losing one’s front teeth and dealing with one’s blood pressure. If you lose one of your front teeth, you will attend the dentist the next day to get it fixed. However, if you are like the average Irish male and find out you have high blood pressure, you will probably wait for about five years before you do anything about it. The irony of it is that it is the blood pressure that will kill you. It is similarly the case in the investment in infrastructure, including water and energy infrastructure and the grid. Our road network is like the front tooth; if there is a pothole outside a person’s home, he or she will notice it and do something about it straightaway. However, addressing water infrastructure is like addressing blood pressure. Historically, we have a habit of underinvesting in it. It is coming back to haunt us and it affects all the development we want to do.

I refer to the EPA report on water quality in Ireland. It starkly shows us the problem we have, not just in urban wastewater treatment but across rural settings. A series entitled “Cois Móire” will start on TG4 tonight that will follow the course of the River Blackwater from where it rises in north Kerry, through north Cork and into Waterford, an area spanning some of the best farming country in Ireland. It is a river that used to be very famous for its fisheries, but that is no longer the case. The stocks of fish in such rivers are declining steeply and this is to do with our water quality. I looked at the EU nature restoration law that is coming down the tracks and the commitments we will have to live up to in protecting our estuarine areas, for example, and I am not sure we can continue to do that with the current level of pollution, particularly in respect of nitrogen and phosphorus.

I am disappointed the Ceann Comhairle will miss my tour of Waterford. I wanted to list the likes of Dungarvan town, which is under pressure, and Ardmore, which is getting new water treatment works that were much needed. I will focus on the village of Bunmahon, an area about which I spoke last December. An example of this can be seen all over the country. The EPA, Waterford County Council and everybody involved have acknowledged that there is a need for a wastewater treatment plant in Bunmahon. The community has been fighting tooth and nail for a wastewater treatment plant. It is a coastal village that relies on tourism. Water quality is of the utmost importance. The community wants to build more houses for local people to live in but this is being held back by our investment in wastewater infrastructure. It is good that we are taking this tour of the country because water quality is an issue that affects communities across the country. It is good that we have the chance to list them.

We have to look to Europe and what is coming down the tracks in the urban wastewater treatment directive, about which we heard news on 26 October. It focuses on making wastewater energy neutral and making industry responsible for treating toxic micropollutants. These provisions require us to move in the same direction. We know we have built our development on a creaking water infrastructure, in which it is essential that we invest.