Press release
Minister O’Brien receives update on incidents at Gorey and Ballymore Eustace drinking water plants
From Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD has today received an update on the actions taken by Irish Water and local authorities following the two recent incidents at Gorey and Ballymore Eustace drinking water plants.
Commenting following a meeting with the Irish Water Managing Director and officials and both the Chief Executives of Dublin City Council and Wexford County Council, Minister O’Brien said:
“Irish Water has assured me that both treatment plants at Gorey and Ballymore Eustace are stable, operating normally and are producing clean water. They have completed the audits that I requested on the 25 largest water treatment plants in the State and refresher training has been provided to the operatives at these plants. Refresher training is also being provided for all local authority management and engineers who are then ‘cascading’ this training to all operatives and technical staff in all 800 plus water treatment plants. I am pleased that Irish Water and the local authorities are working together in full cooperation to put in place these urgent and necessary corrective measures.”
Irish Water presented the Minister with plans to employ additional Process Optimisation Specialists to provide better support to local authority water plant operational staff and to assist with enhancing existing communications and escalation processes. Irish Water also briefed the Minister on the proposed expansion of the functions of the Irish Water National Operations Management Centre. This will provide nationwide 24/7 support to operational staff in treatment plans and provide real-time connections with treatment plant alarms and monitors to ensure that local authority staff have the back-up they need to ensure the safe and secure delivery of drinking water.
The local authority CEOs confirmed that all local authorities and their staff were working in close co-operation with Irish Water to deliver the actions agreed with the Minister at the meeting on 4th October. The Minister highlighted that public confidence in water supply was crucial and the steps that Irish Water and local authorities were now putting in place are essential to ensure public confidence in our drinking water supply. He noted also that the EPA had, the previous evening, issued audit reports on the 2 incidents in Gorey and Ballymore Eustace. The Minister thanked the EPA for their role in highlighting the failures at the two plants: “The EPA’s action in pointing out the seriousness of the failures at these two plants was crucial in ensuring that my Department, Irish Water and the local government system responded promptly and appropriately to immediately address the risks of similar incidents happening elsewhere.” The Minister also thanked the workforce from both Irish Water and local authorities for their collaborative response to the issues raised by the incidents at Gorey and Ballymore Eustace. The Minister will review progress across all areas of action again in November.
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