Today's Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, report about the wastewater treatment plants is really concerning. Millions of litres of raw sewage continue to be discharged into our rivers and our seas every day. Only half of our sewage was treated to EU environmental standards in 2021. That is way below the EU average of 90%. In Ringsend, which is in the Minister's constituency, sewage is regularly spewed into Dublin Bay, destroying one of the city's most treasured natural amenities. A survey last year from SOS Dublin Bay found that more than one fifth of people who came into contact with water in Dublin Bay through swimming or watersports became ill. The survey calculated that the situation was so bad that it was the equivalent of 74 Olympic swimming pools of untreated wastewater being discharged into Dublin Bay every month.

We are told that the problem will not be rectified until 2025. In total, the EPA has identified 38 areas where work needs to be prioritised to prevent wastewater from harming our rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters. Irish Water has no clear plan for 27 of these areas. I listened to Mr. Michael Tinsley from Irish Water on "Morning Ireland" this morning. He seemed to suggest that Irish Water has not provided timelines or plans to the EPA for this work because it regularly gets criticism for failing to meet those targets. In other words, Irish Water does not have confidence in its ability to deliver projects on time and it has simply stopped publishing deadlines so that it cannot be held accountable for failure.

Another concerning aspect of the report is that those areas where work has been completed are failing to meet EU environmental standards. Clonakilty, Kinsale and Ballymote have the necessary treatment infrastructure to meet the environmental standards. They met the standards in 2020 but failed to meet them in 2021. Will the Minister tell the House what is happening in that scenario? Can critical investment in our wastewater infrastructure be accelerated in order that works are completed ahead of schedule? This is especially important in urban areas like Ringsend. These delays are having a disproportionately negative impact on water quality. Why are the towns where investment has been made in infrastructure failing to meet environmental standards?

I am concerned with the lack of accountability in Irish Water. We know it is not publishing deadlines because it does not want to face criticism for not meeting them. It is also the case that there is little accountability for budgets. Irish Water is not audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and therefore is not within the remit of the Committee of Public Accounts. Given that Irish Water has a budget of more than €1 billion of public money, when is that going to change?

The Deputy is right to draw attention to the need to have clean water systems, which is a critical issue for our country. We need to manage our systems, including our wastewater treatment and our public water systems, in a way that ensures the Irish public and the environment have water that is clean and in pristine condition for bathing or for other reasons. That is not the case at the present time. It is important to recognise the work of the EPA. The report it published last week recognises that there is an issue around our wastewater treatment systems. However, it is also an issue around agricultural policy and forestry policy. A critical response is needed in the river basin management system so that we integrate all of the different aspects that affect water quality and get the proper water quality we deserve.

More immediately, with regard to Irish Water, first there is a recognition of the problem. The recent budget allocated €1.6 billion to Irish Water to address the key areas where there is a shortfall - for example, where raw sewage is being deposited, particularly when storm waters are mixing in. During yesterday's bad weather, storm water systems would have been running into the wastewater systems. That is a particular problem right across the country, particularly in my own city of Dublin.

Progress is being made. The money that is being spent will have an effect and make a difference. The key statistic the Deputy raised, correctly, is that currently only 50% of wastewater is being treated to EU standards. The completion of the Ringsend treatment plant will bring us up to the 90% she cited as the European norm. Ireland should go beyond the norm. That plant will be completed. I visited it and saw the work that is being carried out. It is a critical part in addressing one of the areas where we have a particular problem, which is in Dublin. We cannot stop there, however. We must go further. A total of €6 billion is committed in the capital programme between 2021 and 2025.

We need to continue on a systematic basis to address and invest in our water quality. This is something that was not always popular in previous Governments or in this House in previous years. We were not able to get the political agreement to raise and allocate money for wastewater and water treatment systems. The money is there now. With regard to Irish Water, structurally, there is now an opportunity to look at reporting or other mechanisms. We will be passing legislation to separate Irish Water out from Ervia. I suggest that any measures or proposals the Deputy has with regard to Irish Water's governance structure, or how it reports to this House, could be addressed in that legislation. I understand it will come to the House shortly.

The political commitment on the Government side and, I believe, from the Opposition is clear. We must improve our environmental protection in this country. Access to water that is healthy and clean is a basic right. We need to provide that through Irish Water and change those statistics around.

The water framework directive dates to 2005. We are still not meeting the target. We are only at 50% at this stage. There have been two reports this week from the EPA, one of which the Minister has cited. If this is not about a shortage of money, it is very concerning that plans have not been provided to the EPA with targets for those other 27 projects. I also have concerns about the oversight of the spend and about value for money. For example, if Irish Water was under the remit of the Committee of Public Accounts, and if the Comptroller and Auditor General audited Irish Water's accounts, we could examine value for money. Value for money is not just about what is spent and whether the tender is the cheapest one; it is also about the failures. We are not able to get under the bonnet of that issue because it is not under the remit of the committee. I believe two pieces of legislation are required, not just one. What is happening about the areas where capital investment was made yet they are not meeting the standards?

If the standards are not being met, Irish Water will have to go back. I have been to many towns. Our water supply is central not just in the context of our agricultural policy, our forestry policy and our river basins; it is also connected to our housing strategy and our housing policy. If one speaks to anyone across the country about the ability to build new housing, one will find that it is often to do with the wastewater treatment system.

In those towns, if that is a cause of the problem and there is expansion with which even the upgraded system cannot cope, then we will have to go back. We have to set a standard and reach it.

I will give a measure of progress, which is important, regarding the €1.6 billion that will be spent next year. We were in the European Court of Justice for failing to comply in relation to eight large urban areas. As I understand it, that €1.6 billion will go towards that. Two of those locations have been resolved, four will be resolved between 2023 and 2025 and the final two are scheduled to be completed before the end of this decade. That is just one area in which we are in contravention. We have to address first the areas in which we are held to account directly by the European courts. That is where the first response is but it cannot and should not end there.