Just 4 per cent of sewage waste discharges are fully treated, while 39 per cent receive no treatment, according to the latest available figures. The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, detailed the most recent statistics, for the years 1996 and 1997, from the Environmental Protection Agency's report on the quality of discharged effluents.
During environment questions Mr Dempsey promised, however, that all waste-water discharge systems in towns with a population of more than 2,000 would have full treatment facilities by December 2005, in line with EU requirements.
The Minister told Mr Alan Dukes, Fine Gael's environment spokesman, that priority was being given to completing work on discharges from major urban centres where the EU deadline for completion is the end of this year.
Priority is also being given to nine towns discharging into inland waters designated as "sensitive to pollution": Athlone, Castlebar, Castlebar/Osberstown, Cavan, Killarney, Longford, Navan, Nenagh and Tullamore.