2026-06-24

1. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [16734/26]

2. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [46798/26]

3. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [16739/26]

4. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [16740/26]

5. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [34547/26]

6. Deputy John Connolly asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [37325/26]

7. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [46893/26]

8. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [41562/26]

9. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [41565/26]

10. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [44846/26]

11. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [45030/26]

12. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet [45463/26]

13. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [46909/26]

14. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [45466/26]

15. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Water Quality will next meet. [45629/26]

16. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [47341/26]

17. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [47364/26]

18. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [47401/26]

19. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [47446/26]

20. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on water quality will next meet. [47750/26]

We have two groupings, the first is questions Nos. 1 to 20, inclusive. The Taoiseach will have three minutes and I propose that Deputies will have 30 seconds each in order to accommodate the 20 Deputies.

Are there 20 in the room?

I am afraid I have to prepare on the basis that they will turn up. That is my job.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 20, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on water quality oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments in relation to issues affecting Ireland's water, including those related to agriculture, forestry, land-use change and wastewater treatment. Water quality is vital to the well-being of our society, economy and environment. The programme for Government commits to improving water quality. The EPA recently published Water Quality in 2025: An Indicators Report, which signals annual changes and key indicators for water quality. In 2025, some improvements were recorded at a local level, although there had been no overall improvement in water quality nationally, with 54% of rivers recorded as having good or better biological quality. While the EPA analysis shows that significant challenges remain, it is important to recognise the progress that has been made. An example of positive improvement is the Ballyteigue-Bannow catchment in Wexford seeing the biological quality of a number of its rivers improve. Last year's budget allocated almost €2.5 billion to the delivery of water services. That is an increase of €612 million on 2025. As part of this, €42 million in funding has been allocated to the 2026 water quality capital programme. Uisce Éireann is investing more than €2.3 billion in stand-alone projects at 108 wastewater treatment plans. This will deliver ten new wastewater treatment plant upgrades where current discharges place significant pressures on water bodies. The water action plan published last year sets out over 150 actions to protect, improve and restore water quality. These include: the implementation and tracking of water action plan actions; the development of a stronger sixth nitrates action programme; the Farming for Water European Innovation Partnership project; and the national barrier mitigation programme, which will support fish migration and water quality. The Minister, Deputy Browne, published the sixth nitrates action programme in December. It will run until 2028. This plan gives effect to the nitrates directive, which governs the management of nitrates loss from agriculture to water bodies. On foot of the measures included in this plan, in December 2025, the European Commission granted Ireland a three-year extension to its nitrates derogation. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, is working with his officials to address key conditions within the derogation decision. These include operationalising the environmental assessments to demonstrate enhanced compliance with respect to the nitrates derogation, the habitats directive and the water framework directive. It will be important to safeguard the economic contribution of farmers in the areas most affected by the derogation while also implementing workable solutions for water quality. Last year, the Government published Water and Agriculture: A collaborative approach. This plan sets out a range of measures that address the twin objectives of improving water quality and building a convincing case for the maintenance of Ireland's derogation from certain aspects of the EU nitrates directive. Additional information not given on the floor of the House The Environmental Protection Agency recently released its report, Domestic Waste Water Treatment System Inspections 2025. This details the findings of septic tank inspections by local authorities in 2025. A total of 1,466 septic tank inspections were carried out in 2025, targeting areas of greatest risk from an environmental and health perspective. Of these, 59% failed inspection, with many posing a risk to nearby rivers and drinking water wells. Since 2013, 7,212 septic tanks have failed inspections, with 84% fixed by the end of 2025. Improved resolution of faulty septic tanks by homeowners has been aided by increased Government grant support. The water quality Cabinet committee provides a focus to drive the improvement of water quality. The Cabinet committee met most recently on 30 October and will meet again in July.

There are 20 questions and there are nine Members present. I will give them a minute each. They may risk not getting a fair answer if other Members join us.

I am happy enough because I am first.

You are still only getting a minute.

As someone who was born and reared in rural Ireland and who lives there, I will highlight the very real challenges facing communities in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. In communities like those of Mullinavat and Inistioge, inadequate wastewater treatment capacity is becoming a serious barrier to future growth and future investment. People in these communities want to see homes delivered and young families supported. They want to see local businesses, sports clubs and schools given the opportunity to develop. However, without the necessary water and wastewater infrastructure, rural towns and villages around the country are being limited in their ability to reach their full potential. If this Government is serious about rural regeneration and balanced regional development, essential infrastructure must be delivered to deliver on those ambitions.

Last week, we read headlines such as "No improvement to water quality standards in 2025 - EPA" and "Ireland’s ‘best rivers’ continue to deteriorate in water quality". I will raise the specific issue of combined sewer systems. In many of our urban areas, these are a particular contributor to deterioration in water quality. In these systems, wastewater and surface water are combined. The EPA has a programme to address this issue but it is not ambitious enough. Significantly increased investment is needed in the town of Kells in County Meath to rehabilitate its sewers through this combined sewer programme.

I ask that the Cabinet consider expanding eligibility for the septic tank grant scheme so that every household with a defective system can access support regardless of geography. If we do not take that step, we are asking people to protect water quality without giving them the means to do so. There are close to 500,000 septic tanks in use across the State. The recent grant of €12,000 is welcome but the scheme remains far too narrowly focused. Most of the time, people fall outside the criteria. In practice, households can only access support if they fail an inspection or fall within specific priority areas. If we are really serious about protecting water quality, we cannot rely on this reactive scheme. We want to be proactive. We need to take a preventative approach that supports homeowners before pollution occurs.

I call on Deputy Ó Murchú. I am sorry; I did not see Deputy McCormack.

I am not that small. I welcome the progress being made on the Shannon water supply project, which is now before An Coimisiún Pleanála. This project is about much more than supplying Dublin with water. It is also about creating opportunities in the future to develop spurs leading to Tullamore and Mullingar, which would create a counterbalance to Dublin and drive balanced growth within the midlands region. We all know that, when projects get done, the second phase can sometimes be left on the long finger, which can push them 20, 30 or 40 years down the road. Will the Taoiseach work with me to put pressure on Irish Water to ensure this second phase happens? It should become part of the first phase to provide more opportunities in Offaly, Westmeath and right across the midlands.

I will again bring up the issue of water infrastructure in County Louth, particularly in Hackballscross and Sheelagh. With regard to the reservoir in Dunbin, there have been telemetric monitoring failures and an issue with pumps being unable to contact these monitoring systems. For a number of weeks, families have not had water for days. Farms have gone without water and schools have been closed early. It is not good enough. We need to solve this issue. Locally, Irish Water has told me that it has some of the issues resolved but I need a meeting with Uisce Éireann at a corporate level. I request that the Taoiseach's office help facilitate this because I am having an issue with it. It is absolutely necessary. We should also look at an alternative water supply in the short term.

I ask the Government to examine legislation and regulation in respect of the term "bathing season". The bathing season began on 1 June and will run until the end of September. The challenge is that local authorities will only sample water quality in bathing areas during the bathing season. This is despite the fact that people are now swimming outdoors throughout the year. This has developed in popularity since the Covid pandemic began. We do not know the quality of the water people are swimming in outside of what is considered the bathing season. Galway City Council only samples the water during the bathing season. Dublin City Council is the only local authority in the State that samples water outside of the bathing season. I know the Taoiseach himself enjoys a swim on Christmas Day. Everyone who enjoys swimming throughout the year needs to know the quality of the water they are swimming in.

I will raise an issue in respect of Woodlands, a housing estate in Portlaw, County Waterford. At the moment, water is provided through developer-provided infrastructure. This is costing the residents in this housing estate a lot of money. They obviously want to be connected to the public infrastructure. That will come at a cost. Catherine Burke, a councillor in the area, has been engaging with Irish Water on the issue for a long time. There does not seem to be a resolution. Will the Taoiseach make inquiries to Irish Water on my behalf? I have contacted it but I believe contact from the Taoiseach could make a difference.

Met Éireann is saying that we are facing tropical temperatures tonight. It is absolutely baking out there and people want, and should be able, to swim. However, all across Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown there are warning notices saying people cannot swim. The reason - and I have raised this repeatedly - is because of the failure of Irish Water-Uisce Éireann to rehabilitate the water infrastructure and the fact that when heavy rains come down, rainwater mixes with sewage and it goes into Dublin Bay. The test results come three days later and there is a warning asking people not to swim. By the way, people are swimming despite this and endangering their health. I have raised this repeatedly. The only reason we have testing outside the bathing season, by the way, is because we fought for it in Dublin. We need same-day testing and the rehabilitation of this decrepit water infrastructure that is preventing people swimming.

There are thousands of people already at our coasts or on their way to our coasts to swim but there are swimming restrictions in place across all of the closest designated swimming spots south of the city centre. The Half Moon, Seapoint, Dún Laoghaire Baths, Sandycove and the Forty Foot have all been under an eight-day swim restriction notice since Thursday last. The notice warns of a possible increase in bacteria following heavy rainfall. In other words, there is a good chance you are swimming in faeces. The same notice goes up every time there is heavy rain, which means it happens a lot, because the sewage system is overloaded due to decades of underinvestment. The council is advising beach-goers to reduce the risk of illness by avoiding splashing or swallowing water. Tell that to the hundreds of kids swimming at beaches yesterday. Does the Taoiseach think it is acceptable for children to be swimming in faeces?

One of the most basic responsibilities of a Government is to keep water in the taps and keep the lights on, yet in County Meath our water infrastructure is that of a developing country. County Meath towns are regularly without water and new housing estates are being delayed as a result of the water infrastructure. I know of one housing estate that has to wait more than a year for Uisce Éireann to connect it to the water infrastructure. Last month, Ballivor was without water for so long that the school had to close. Today, they are trucking water to Ballivor. Tomorrow, Athboy and Kildalkey will be without water. Water supply is cut regularly and the water is regularly discoloured, and vulnerable people are hurting. Can the Taoiseach confirm that the people of County Meath will have clean and consistent water within the next 50 years?

Did the Deputy say 50 years?

Yes.

The people of Newport have waited decades for a wastewater treatment plant that is fit for purpose. This is absolutely critical infrastructure. For them to hear now that it may be 2031 before they get this critical infrastructure is absolutely not acceptable for families, businesses or community groups in the area. This is a beautiful town that has waited too long. I am asking the Taoiseach to intervene so that it does not have to wait until 2031 for something as basic as a wastewater treatment plant.

In 2024, 59% of Ireland’s existing treatment plants failed to consistently meet the standards set out in their EPA licence. Nearly half of these, that is approximately 120 instances, were due to poor operational management, things like pumps not working and maintenance not happening on equipment. In fact, the EPA has prosecuted Uisce Éireann 35 times for failing to properly treat wastewater. Can the Taoiseach tell me why Uisce Éireann gave 47 of its best-paid employees an average of €21,000 in bonus payments for good performance in 2024, while at the same time there were 120 instances of someone, somewhere not doing his or her job when it came to treating our water and ensuring and protecting our water supply?

I was swimming in Dún Laoghaire this morning, so I am very worried. I have raised this multiple times. In the north Dublin coastal communities of Clontarf, Bayside and Howth, swimmers constantly get swim warnings. Seán Dublin Bay Loftus, a former Independent TD in my constituency whose family endorsed me, fought to protect Dublin Bay from pollution. Other countries have cracked this. The Netherlands has restored millions of seagrass plants along its coasts, as well as oysters which can use natural means to clean the water. However, that is treating the problem. At the end of the day, we need to get to the root cause, which is more water treatment plants. The water treatment plant in north Dublin proposed under the greater Dublin drainage project needs to be brought in faster. The current overflow system in Poolbeg is not large enough and needs to be looked at for swimmers in my area.

I would love a swim now. I will not get one.

The Taoiseach cannot go to Dún Laoghaire, I am afraid.

I am working too hard all day and will not get the chance. The Deputies have all made me very envious. Everyone is going swimming and we are in here. We should reflect. Deputy ‘Chap’ Cleere made a very valid point in terms of Mullinavat and Inistioge. I have been saying this to Irish Water. As the Deputy knows, one of the outcomes of our discussions has been developer-led treatment plants. There were some decisions made on that, but it is in terms of naturally based water treatment processes which would then enable developer-led waste treatment to be put in for villages and towns, because Irish Water has said it will never get to them. It will be doing the bigger stuff and it will not get out to the villages and towns around Ireland. That has been decided upon. We need to do more than that, if I am honest. I am not quite satisfied that is sufficient, but it is a start. We have many towns which have basic facilities in terms of additional housing contiguous to the village and so on. I am with the Deputy on that one. Deputy O’Rourke spoke about Kells and the combined sewer investment. Again, I will talk to Irish Water. There is progress and work on that but I will certainly raise it with Irish Water. Deputy McGreehan gave a very interesting presentation on septic tanks. She said the scheme is too narrowly focused. I will examine that. The EPA recently released a report on domestic wastewater treatment system inspections in 2025. It is interesting that 1,400 septic tank inspections were carried out and 59% failed inspection, with many posing a risk to nearby rivers and drinking water. Since 2013, 7,000 septic tanks failed inspections, with 84% fixed by the end of 2025. There is Government grant support, as the Deputy said. I will speak to the Minister. The Deputy is saying to broaden it out and have a more proactive approach. That is a very good idea and I will see if we can activate that as opposed to a reactive one. I could not agree more with Deputy McCormack. It is the eastern midlands project. I did not realise that the midlands was the second phase. In my view, if we are going up along, we need to sort it out and do the midlands. By the way, it will be the best argument for the east as well. Some people are worried about it and opposing it but it is absolutely essential for the future of the country the that project gets off the ground and developed in terms of water supply and wastewater. It will have a negligible impact on the Shannon or ecology, in my view. It should have happened earlier. This Government has taken a decision in terms of a fundamental piece of infrastructure that simply has to happen. The midlands is a natural growth area that would take pressure off the east and whose time has come for a broader-based economic development prospect. Between the energy side and this project, that gives us the fundamentals to do that. All politics is local but I note Deputy Ó Murchú wants a meeting at corporate level.

I have met locally. What I am looking for-----

My experience in life is that the engineer or person on the ground might know an awful lot more than the corporates in terms of specific pipes and so on. I will pursue it and I will raise the fact that the Deputy has raised it with me. Deputy Connolly has a sensible proposal. The bathing season of June to September does not make sense any more. Particularly since Covid, an awful lot more people swim all 12 months round. I interviewed Professor Luke O'Neill some time back, before I became Taoiseach. Cold water is very good for you, apparently. It is very good for the immune system. People are swimming all year round. Deputy 'Chap' Cleere should try it some time.

It makes absolute sense to carry out testing, particularly in rural towns and villages, during the festive season and the winter when there are many swimming events, such as on Christmas Day, new year's eve and new year's day. A lot of people gather in those areas for those events. It is a very good point. I will get the Minister to send a circular to the local authorities on that. Deputy Cullinane said to inquire with Irish Water about Portlaw and Woodlands. I hope he does not mind but I better inquire with the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler as well. She is from Portlaw, as the Deputy knows. I will try to sort out what is happening and what the county council is doing.

Just to get a response from Irish Water.

We have a number of areas where things are not taken in charge. These things should be facilitated by the agencies. I got the message from Deputy Boyd Barrett but he went from tropical weather to torrential rainfall within one minute.

It was within three days.

Within three days.

That is precisely what tropical weather is.

We have to be fair to everybody. The Taoiseach, please.

I am trying to work out when the torrential rainfall was but the point is well made. There is a fundamental issue there and that is why we are putting €2.5 billion into this to do some very substantial wastewater infrastructure. Dublin is one of the areas that is probably most impacted because of the access to the coast, the huge population and so on. Deputy Paul Murphy essentially made the same point in terms of the impacts on swimmers. This is a public health issue and we cannot take it lightly. When warnings are given we have to take them on board because it can result in significant illness for people who could be immunosupressed or whatever, which would be doubly dangerous for them. Deputy Tóibín-----

Fifty years.

In 50 years. I would like to commit, yes, but I think we will do it much sooner. There is huge investment going in. The delivery and upgrading continues apace. On the issue raised by Deputy Conway-Walsh, I am not sure of the background as to why there are delays until 2031. The project is under way, I take it.

Could the Taoiseach tell them to hurry up?

No, Deputy.

I will examine it with Irish Water. They make a very good black pudding in Newport as well, by the way.

Taoiseach, there are two more Deputies and one minute.

I will certainly look into it and check with Irish Water as to why. It might be an operational or planning issue. I do not know but I will check with them.

Deputy Whitmore's question was next.

Deputy Whitmore referenced 59%. This is a very serious point which I have raised with Irish Water. In my view, there should not be operational errors or non-performance which then leads to poor water quality. The Irish water authority should be the personification of excellence in terms of clean water. There has been some pretty poor evidence in some areas where standards have dropped. In fairness to the 47 best-paid employees, I would say they were not involved.

Someone at the top has to be.

Deputy, we will be out of time.

Collectively, there is a question about ethos here. We have had presentations from the EPA and Irish Water and this is an issue.

We are out of time, Taoiseach.

Deputy Heneghan, too, raised the issue of water quality. You are looking okay but, that said-----

Thank you very much.

You are looking very well, actually. You are invigorated from your swim.

Time, Taoiseach. We have to move on.

However, at the same time, we will-----

We will report further.