Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) said that Irish Water needed dramatic bolstering of its funds if the damning indictment reported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was to be tackled. The EPA report said that 35 towns and villages are releasing raw sewage into the environment, with Cobh and Arklow having the most glaring problems. Mr Lowes said Irish Water cannot be expected to tackle such enormous legacy issues without adequate funding to do so. SWAN coordinator Sinéad O'Brien said raw sewage still being discharged into our rivers, lakes, and sea — and that is completely unacceptable. "Lack of effective wastewater treatment is damaging our water environment and posing a significant public health risk," she said.

Source: Irish Examiner November 12, 2020 18:15 UTC