Irish Water dealing with consequences of failure to invest in infrastructure, says spokesperson

Irish Water’s wastewater delivery project manager Michael Tinsley has defended the pace with which the utility company is addressing the problems with wastewater treatment.

Mr Tinsley told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that the reality was that developing projects could be slowed by the planning system, legal appeals and the length of time it takes to acquire land.

Irish Water had a long list of priorities through which it was working, he said. However, the current level of investment would need to continue for at least a decade to address the problems.

[ Raw sewage being discharged by 32 Irish towns into rivers and seas, EPA finds ]

When asked about a complaint from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that Irish Water had not yet provided details for one third of the outstanding improvement projects, Mr Tinsley explained that plans were already underway but they could not be presented until all the details were finalised. All the projects would be completed by 2030, he said.

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Decades of under investment in the infrastructure had led to the current problems, added Mr Tinsley. Irish Water had been established in 2004 and had been tackling the problems since then.

“We can’t fix all of the problems overnight,” he said.

The EPA’s Programme Manager Noel Byrne told Morning Ireland and Newstalk Breakfast that their report highlighted the need for “improved vigilance and oversight” by Irish Water to ensure that treatment systems always operated at their optimum.

While there had been some improvement, poorly treated sewage continued to harm the quality of water in rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

Both Mr Tinsley and Mr Byrne pointed out that Irish Water’s Ringsend plant dealt with 40 percent of the country’s wastewater. Once it becomes fully compliant – which Mr Tinsley anticipated would be next year – then the country’s standard for treating wastewater would move from 51 per cent to 90 percent.