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Updated at 8am
IRISH WATER HAS pledged to clean up our worst bathing waters after seven of the country’s bathing spots were described as ‘poor’.
The latest EPA Bathing Water Quality Report was published yesterday, and included a number of beaches where there was sewage in the water.
In response, Irish Water said that the “failing” beaches in many instances are because of sewage discharges where the infrastructure is inadequate.
Poor water
The bathing waters which have been classified as ‘Poor’ are:
Irish Water projects are already underway to bring these sites up to the required standards as soon as possible.
Irish Water said this problem highlights how years of under-investment in providing adequate waste water collection and treatment “has presented a risk to the quality of nearby bathing waters”.
It added that Irish Water is focused on addressing the fact that 44 towns around the country that have no waste water treatment at all.
Jerry Grant, Head of Asset Management at IW, said:
It is not acceptable in a modern economy that so many of our towns are discharging raw sewage directly into the environment and that so many of our waste water treatment plants fail to regularly operate to environmental standards.
Bills bills bills
The first Irish Water bills recently landed in the letterboxes of some households. Grant said that customer revenue will be invested to improve wastewater treatment capacity and effluent discharge standards across the entire network, “but in particular where the complete lack of treatment is impacting the local environment and the local economy”.
He said that billions are needed to be invested in the Irish Water infrastructure, and that its utility model allows it to borrow money from capital markets and invest it in essential infrastructure improvements.
Some of these projects are expected to be completed as early as this summer, and other works are being progressed this year.
The Front Strand Beach, Youghal is 90% complete with the main construction delayed due to a road collapse, it said.
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Read that as Meth lab at first
He’s had enough Meth by the look of him
He wouldn’t be the first politician to tell an untruth.
Ah hahahahaha
So now that he got his lab, he goes back to supporting the blueshirts?
Some socialist Halligan is.
Forget about the rest of the hospitals in the country…. one trick politician .. groucho marx lookalike.
I doubt that any of the patients who benefit from this, will be very worried about who he looks like.
@Patrick j Brady:
I beg your pardon.
Mediterranean Playboy look.
Good description Alex. .
A mobile cath lab??? Is this a couple of polish plumbers in the back of a van?…
Build an actual one instead of paying huge money to a private company
Well done John.
Of course political considerations outside The Pale are an alien concept to some people but the Déise salutes you.
Alex
No they don’t for a half baked solution
@Alex Falcone: John is that you?
Well said Alex great his hard work has resulted in a 2nd Cath lab and well needed. Without him going on about it we wouldn’t have got it so well done John keep up the good work.
Didnt the report say another Catherine lab wasn’t needed . Didn’t the HSE , Simon Harris say one wasn’t needed. Now a mobile one is needed?
Cath lab
The report was flawed. It underestimated the population of the region and the government know it.
He knows we wont be.bought that easy. Not good enough.
I need to see the way this contract has been written, the exact wording & timeline
Super Mario is looking old…
Edna will give anything to stay in power.
Halligan sold his soul for a Lab ,always will be remembered as a turncoat
So it’s both secure and mobile at the same time, ideal.
It’s been bought in to address the waiting list.
The much bigger issue however is…..
The need to travel to Cork in an emergency when the Cath lab is not operating (after 5 pm on week days and no service AT ALL at weekends) has implications for patient outcomes.
It’s unbelievable to plan to have a journey time that’s on the limit of the recommended time limit (90 mins) for arrival at Cath lab in emergency heart attack scenarios.
That Waterford to Cork trip by road is not a journey someone should be advocating as best practice for someone whose had a heart attack.
Helicopter is needed but very expensive .
It needs to be remembered that Waterford is actually a city not some tiny Kilgarvan type village
He barks like a Wolfhound but has a bite of a Yorkie, he just keeps backing down & afraid to upset the apple cart!
He’s not a very honest man, Remember water.
Gombeen
They might consider making the current cath lab bigger first. They one they have is tiny…. You wouldn’t swing a cat in it
have your say