KENNY CALLS FOR A GRANT-AIDED SCHEME TO REMOVE HARMFUL LEAD PIPES FROM WATER SUPPLY
Posted on May 12, 2015 6:54 PM | Permanent Link
Speaking during a Topical Issue Debate
Dublin Bay North Labour TD Sean Kenny has called for a grant-aided scheme to aid the removal of harmful piping from the public water supply.
"It has been stated that forty-two public water supplies in Ireland tested in the latest Environmental Protection Agency inspections had lead levels that exceeded safety thresholds that came into effect in December last year; Dublin city alone was known to have several thousand homes still with internal lead pipes and that situation is replicated across the country. Ireland is not alone in regard to having legacy issues with lead pipes. The problem is also prevalent in England, Scotland, and France."
"A Public health specialist Dr Anthony Breslin has recently said that the full impact of lead exposure was serious and could cause neurological disease, he urged householders who had any doubts to have their pipes checked. He also said that public awareness about the dangers of lead was high when it began to be removed from paint and petrol, but in the 20 to 30 years since, people may have become complacent."
"A constituent contacted me last week to express his concern and anxiety regarding what he described as a potentially lethal problem, he has 9 year old daughter and was very worried that the lead in his water supply could be causing her issues in the future."
"There is a great concern at St. Anne's Estate Raheny, in my constituency, at the presence of lead pipes in the water supply network in this estate comprising almost 700 homes. St. Anne's estate was built by Dublin Corporation, as it then was, and completed in 1954, as a estate to house families qualifying for a Local Authority loan to purchase a home. At that time they has to be either existing Corporation tenants or Corporation housing applicants to qualify. The design of the estate is similar to other Dublin Corporation estates of that period and this design continued right up to the 1970s. At the moment the problem with the lead water supply pipes is manifesting itself in St. Anne's estate."
"I am told that Irish Water is currently liaising with the Environmental Protection Agency to finalise a national strategy to address the issue of lead water pipes. Irish Water has also said property owners are responsible for the water distribution on their own properties, including all domestic internal plumbing."
"But unlike Scotland, for example, where there are grants for private householders to replace their pipes with plastic or other alternatives, there are no such grant incentives here."
"I believe that a grant-aided scheme to remove harmful lead pipes from the drinking water supply could provide jobs as well as eliminate a public health risk and I am pleased that Minister Kathleen Lynch has said that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is developing a strategy with the Department of Health, Irish Water, the HSE and the EPA, to address the issue of lead in drinking water, and will be published by mid-June."
