Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 19 Jun 2024

When will the State appoint a pathologist to serve County Kerry? The two pathologists we had previously have been retired for well over six months. Many families have had to wait six, eight or nine days for a pathologist to arrive to carry out the necessary examination, make a conclusion on the cause of death and return the remains to the family. In recent times, the families of three very good friends of mine, Jeremiah Dunlea from Scartaglen, Ann Cronin from Maughantoorig in Gneeveguilla and Dan O'Donoghue from Lisbabe, as well as several other families, had to wait six, eight and nine days. This is not good enough at all.

We have been helped by Dr. Margot Bolster, who has done her utmost to fill the void. She has to do the examinations early in the morning, late at night and at the weekends. On one occasion, she had to do an examination on a bank holiday Monday. I thank Aisling Quilter and her staff in Tralee and Helen Lucey and her staff in Listowel. The staff in the morgue in Tralee give excellent help and are always accessible and available. Undertakers have even indicated they would take remains up the country to Cork, Dublin, Limerick and elsewhere to get the examinations carried out in a timely fashion.

The system that currently pertains in Kerry is not acceptable. When will a pathologist be appointed for the county? I have had different replies on the matter from the Minister for Justice. The Minister for Health has a role in this as well. I am asking that the situation be sorted out. If it is the case that a permanent pathologist cannot be found for Kerry, I ask that undertakers be allowed to take remains to Cork, Limerick or even Dublin. It is not acceptable that families have to wait up to nine days for a post mortem and up to 11 days to have the funeral concluded. They just want to get the remains home. Death comes suddenly, with no notice. When a body is taken to the morgue in Tralee, all the family wants is for the post mortem to be concluded, the remains returned and to have a dignified funeral, with their friends around them to help them grieve. It is a natural process.

What is happening in Kerry is too stressful for families. I appeal to the Government to do something about it. If a pathologist for Kerry cannot be found in Ireland, surely somebody can be sourced from abroad. The case is being made for migrants to come here. We need a full-time pathologist in Kerry. We are no different from any other part of the country. The State is neglecting its statutory obligation to carry out post mortems in a timely fashion in Kerry.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter, on which I will update the House on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I extend my sympathies to the families who have experienced a waiting period for the carrying out of a post mortem. I understand the concerns raised about the delay in post mortem services in Kerry. I appreciate that the current situation may be adding to family stress during an already difficult time.

The Office of the State Pathologist, OSP, is an important independent body under the auspices of the Department of Justice. The OSP provides the State with a national forensic pathology service whereby a forensic pathologist is on duty, 24 hours a day, each day of the year. The pathologist's primary remit is to perform post mortem examinations in suspicious deaths, as directed by the coroner. There are four forensic pathologists based in Dublin, with additional support provided by a forensic pathologist in Cork on a rota basis. Post mortem examinations in non-suspicious deaths under the remit of the coroner are directed to be performed by hospital-based histopathology consultants. Post mortem examination is an important part of clinical care and one of the most informative investigations in medicine. It can provide objective information on the cause of death, which is of value to the family of the deceased and also to healthcare professionals.

The HSE has advised that the pathology service in University Hospital Kerry is supported as required on a regional basis by consultants based in Cork University Hospital. The role of hospital-based histopathology consultants cannot be understated. Their work in conducting post mortem examinations in non-suspicious deaths provides closure to families and valuable insights to healthcare professionals. It is a critical part of our healthcare system. We are committed to supporting the consultants in their work.

The regional support provided by consultants based in Cork University Hospital to the pathology service in University Hospital Kerry is an example of our integrated approach to healthcare. We believe in the power of collaboration and shared expertise and we are continually looking for ways to improve our services through such partnerships. I hope family members can find some comfort in the knowledge that information gained from post-mortem examinations contributes significantly to our understanding of diseases. This, in turn, advances medical knowledge and aids in the fight against disease, ultimately benefiting others through improved treatment methods. We are committed to ensuring the vital service is accessible in an efficient way.

If there was a delay, then I extend my sympathies to the families. It obviously should not be occurring. I will take on board the concerns the Deputy has raised.

I thank the Minister of State for the reply but with regard to a lot of the stuff he said, we know what happens and what is supposed to happen but it has not been happening in Kerry. I am not making it up that three very good friends of mine had to wait six, eight and nine days, with the funeral taking up to 11 days in all. There have also been several more that I was not aware of but was made aware of it by the coroner's office. It was waiting for those people as well.

It is not good enough. People need to have a dignified funeral in an acceptable period of time, and 11 days is too long for a funeral to be concluded. That puts a strain on a family waiting for the corpse to come home. One can only imagine the anguish, torture and torment that people have to go through with this. If the Government cannot find a pathologist - and it says it has been looking for one for over six months now - it must do something better to help the people of Kerry. It should arrange for the undertakers to bring the bodies to a designated place and for them to be seen to in a timely fashion. The people of Kerry are entitled to the same services that the people up here in Dublin have. The Minister of State says there are four forensic pathologists in Dublin. It is not much good to the people of Kerry if they are up here in Dublin, or in Cork or somewhere else, and will not go down to Kerry to perform a post-mortem. That has not been happening, and what has been happening is not good enough.

I appeal to the Minister of State. The two Ministers involved, the Ministers for Justice and Health, will have to do something reasonable about this to facilitate people and families in Kerry who lose their family members.

It is important that we distinguish between suspicious and non-suspicious deaths. The former come under the State pathologist's remit. I have outlined that there are four in Dublin and one in Cork. Where there is a suspicious death, they become involved. In other cases of non-suspicious deaths, that matter is dealt with in the hospital and within the hospital area.

I did not interrupt the Deputy. What I am saying is there is co-ordination, as I understand it, between University Hospital Kerry and Cork University Hospital with regard to the provision of services. If there were delays, I will check what the reason is for those and revert to the Deputy. I will also get him the average time it takes for post-mortems. The figures I have for 2021 show there were over 5,071 post-mortems performed in HSE hospitals in 2021. That is a huge number. Where there is a suspicious death, the State pathologist gets involved, and if it is a non-suspicious death, it is hospital-based consultants who are involved.

The HSE has advised that the pathology service in University Hospital Kerry is supported, as required, on a regional basis by consultants based in Cork University Hospital. I understand any delays may cause additional distress for already grieving families and I offer my condolences to all of the families affected. I assure families that coroners throughout the country work closely with hospitals and consultant pathologists at a local level to ensure that post-mortems are carried out as directed and in a timely manner. I will take on board what the Deputy has said. I will go back to the Department and the HSE to see if there is a specific issue with regard to the Deputy's area.

I have raised this issue a number of times by way of Topical Issues and parliamentary questions. The State and the Government will be judged by how they treat the most marginalised and the weakest in society. We have here a scandal that is not being addressed adequately and efficiently.

I ask the Minister of State to look at SOS Kilkenny, a provider of services for people with intellectual disability and autism which has been underfunded to the tune of millions for some years. It has made a case to the Department and nothing has happened. There has been review after review. In the meantime, all of the families who have children suffering with autism are paying a heavy price because their lives are put on hold until such time as the services are provided.

I point also to the waiting lists for assessments. Children have been waiting for assessments for far too long. They are not being dealt with, and the promises and commitments given in this House are not being fulfilled. Families who have asked for assessment have been told they will wait for two years. Any child who requires an assessment for autism, ADHD and so on needs it as soon as possible. The services need to be put in place to deal with the issues that arise from those assessments and that is not happening. Telling a family they have to wait two to three years is outrageous. It is a scandal and we should be doing something far more positive, even if it means buying in expertise from outside the State.

There is a service in Northern Ireland which funded by the Government here and offers a range of services and expertise to those who are on the spectrum. I cannot understand why that service cannot be replicated here under this Government. We can fund it elsewhere with limited places but we cannot learn from it and expand on it. There is no respite and once the assessment has been completed, there are no services. The parents of non-verbal children in special schools are now being taught how they should deal with the issue. Families with a child with autism - there are families with more than one child with autism - are stretched enough catering for the day-to-day problems of their child without having imposed on them the need to educate their child. Parents who are not qualified professionals are attempting to assist non-verbal children. When is the State going to see the reality of this and intervene appropriately?

In the case of a family in Kilkenny where three children have autism, two of the children have some services, one child has not been assessed fully and another has no services at all. Why is that happening? Why is there not some sort form of common-sense approach that would deal with the three children, ease the burden on the family and assist them with all of the services required? I am asking the Minister of State a straightforward, common-sense question. I hope he will not respond with the usual statistics and big-picture stuff from the Department.

The Minister of State may have that on his file but I can tell him that on the ground, for those at the front line of services, it is simply not working and children are suffering.

I have been asked to take this Topical Issue by the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. She apologises that she could not be here this morning. Funding for mental health increased to more than €1.3 billion in 2024. This is the fourth consecutive year of an increase for mental health services and highlights the importance this Government places on the mental health of those living in Ireland. CAMHS is a specialist service for children or adolescents with a moderate to severe mental health difficulty. Evidence shows that only 2% of children and young people need the support of CAMHS teams. Access to CAMHS is on the basis of prioritised clinical assessment, with all referrals assessed by a multidisciplinary team. CAMHS receives approximately €146.5 million in dedicated funding annually, while approximately €110 million is provided to community-based mental health organisations or NGOs each year to deliver supports and services, a significant proportion of which is dedicated to supporting young people. It remains a priority of the Government to improve access to CAMHS and reduce waiting lists. This includes a number of measures such as better links with primary care and disability services and greater use of e-mental health responses.

There continues to be a growing demand for CAMHS, with 77 community teams nationally delivering around 225,000 appointments for children and young people annually. Between 2020 and 2021, referral rates to CAMHS increased by 33%, while the number of new cases seen increased by 21% in the same period. Provisional HSE data shows that last year there were 5.2% more referrals accepted to CAMHS and 12% more CAMHS appointments offered to children than in 2022. Overall, 91% of new or re-referred cases were seen within 12 months in community CAMHS services in 2023. There were 3,583 children on the CAMHS waiting list in April 2024, which represents a decrease of 778 compared with 4,361 in April 2023. Approximately 95% of urgent referrals to CAMHS in April were responded to within 72 hours. Staffing in community CAMHS increased from around 389 whole-time equivalents in 2011 to around 820 posts at present. This has been augmented by 68 new posts allocated under budget 2024 and more than 60 new posts under the €10 million recently announced by the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for clinical programmes and youth mental health.

There are a number of initiatives under way to address waiting lists for child and youth mental health services. This includes €3 million in new funding for 2024 to address waiting lists in CAMHS. Additional funding has been allocated to the HSE to improve the validation of CAMHS waiting list data and improving data quality. Continued waiting list action plan funding of €5 million this year will target removals of more than 3,000 young people from the primary care child psychology services wait list. Addressing primary care waiting lists helps to alleviate pressures on the specialist CAMHS service. CAMHS inpatient bed capacity is 72 beds nationally but currently, due to a range of issues, 51 beds are operational. The HSE is making every effort to address recruitment and other challenges and restore the number of operational beds to 72. As of 18 June, the waiting list nationally to access units was zero. Of the available 51 beds, 24 were occupied on that same date, leaving 27 staffed and readily available to accommodate an admission.

That is of no comfort to the families I am speaking about. While it might read well and give the impression that there is a fantastic service there, I can tell the Minister of State that is not the case. I ask him again to address the issue of SOS Kilkenny and funding to allow it to provide the range of services. Will the Minister of State address the issue of respite in counties Kilkenny and Carlow in relation to that also? I asked the Minister of State - and he did not answer - about the numbers waiting to see a child psychologist where the child has been referred urgently by the GP and the psychologist has said they will not accept the patient. That is happening. Families are queuing up for services and not getting access to them.

I have raised this issue umpteen times and the same nonsense is read out. It may be factually correct but I can tell the Minister of State that not enough is being done to reduce waiting lists, deliver the services required and reach out to families in daily trauma having to deal with one, three or four children with autism. That can ruin family life because there can be violence in some cases and parents are unable to cope with the level of care they have to give to these children. The statistics the Minister of State read out are simply muddying the waters in relation to what is actually happening on the ground. I appeal again to him to please understand that there is no continuity of services for families with a child or children with autism. There is a queue to see a child psychologist. There is a real problem. If the Minister of State sticks his head in the sand, ignores what I say and relies on what he is given by the Department, he is doing a terrible disservice to those young people.

Again, I am stepping in for the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. I do not think anyone is sticking their head in the sand. As I outlined, there was a 33% increase in demand for services and a 21% increase in the number of new cases. That is a substantial increase. The Deputy said people had their heads in the sand. The number of people working in this area has increased substantially in recent years. The focus for the Minister of State and the HSE is to ensure that children and their families have access to the mental health services that most support their needs, when they need them.

The new HSE office for child and youth mental health will improve leadership, operational oversight and management of all service delivery, including CAMHS. Examples of new service initiatives in 2024 include additional staffing for CAMHS teams, expansion of multidisciplinary CAMHS hubs, development of specialist mental health teams, a new youth mental health app and the development of a central referral mechanism. The latter is being established on a pilot basis in the HSE to make referrals to community paediatric services, including CAMHS, easier to navigate and to ensure that no child is waiting on the wrong list.

I reassure the Deputy that the Minister of State is dealing with this matter. If the Deputy wants to raise specific cases, he can refer them to the Minister of State. I have no difficulty following up on his behalf but I am reassured that, with the level of additional funding and staff put into CAMHS, a comprehensive service is still being delivered. There are glitches in the system from time to time. It is about trying to remove those glitches when they arise.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this Topical Issue and the Minister of State for being here to address it. The need to extend the provision of postal voting to individuals who may be away on polling day for whatever reason is of significant importance to our democracy. This proposal aims to ensure that all citizens can exercise their democratic right, even when personal commitments necessitate their absence from their area or even the country on election day. I came across this issue during the recent elections. People were very disappointed that they were away and could not vote. They were on holidays or away for another reason.

In examining the issue, we can draw valuable insights from other democracies that have successfully implemented similar measures. The UK, for instance, offers postal voting to anyone who is away for work, holidays or other reasons. Citizens simply need to apply for a postal vote in advance, ensuring they can participate in the electoral process regardless of their location on polling day. Australia has also embraced a robust system of postal voting. Australians who are travelling or temporarily overseas during an election can apply for a postal vote, guaranteeing their voices are heard in national and local elections.

The simplicity and efficiency of this system has been praised for enhancing voter turnout and inclusivity. Voter turnout is another issue because voter turnout is low if people are away because they then obviously cannot vote.

Similarly, in New Zealand, postal voting is provided to individuals who are unable to vote in person due to travel or various other circumstances. Their system is designed to be user-friendly and accessible in ensuring that it does not disenfranchise citizens in so doing.

In these examples we see a common trait. There is a commitment to ensure that all citizens can participate in the democratic process regardless of their circumstances on polling day. I would argue that it is time for Ireland to follow suit.

Currently, our postal voting system is limited to specific groups such as students, people with disabilities, and those in certain professions like diplomats and members of the Defence Forces. While these provisions are commendable, they do not cover the broader spectrum of citizens who may be temporarily away on polling day. This gap in our electoral system needs to be addressed.

Consider the impact on our citizens who have plans to travel, particularly in today’s globalised world. Many of our fellow citizens are required to travel for education, or family commitments and so on. By not providing a means for them to vote while they are away, we are effectively disenfranchising a portion of our electorate. This is neither fair nor reflective of a modern democracy that values the participation of all its citizens.

Moreover, the ability to vote by post would be especially beneficial during unforeseen circumstances. The recent global pandemic has underscored the importance of flexible voting options. By expanding postal voting, we would not only enhance accessibility but also future-proof our electoral system against any such disruptions.

To implement this change, we must ensure a secure and efficient postal voting process. This involves clear guidelines for application, deadlines to ensure timely delivery and robust measures to prevent fraud. The experiences of the UK, Australia, and New Zealand demonstrate that with proper planning and safeguards, a postal voting system can be both secure and effective.

In conclusion, I urge the Minister and colleagues to consider the benefits of extending postal voting to those who are away on polling day, in particular for those who are on holidays. Let us strengthen our democracy, ensuring that every citizen, regardless of his or her location on election day, can participate in shaping our nation's future.

We are aware that if students are away from home while attending college they can register at their home address or students residential addresses, which measure is already there. There are other areas which I mentioned earlier where people can actually vote. We have anonymous voter registration now, which is an addition and benefit, as well as pending electoral lists if one is 16 or 17 years of age. We have, therefore, been making changes over the years to the system. We also have postal voting and special voting lists due to illness and disability or if people are in hospices or nursing homes. I think that this is something that should be considered. It is working in other jurisdictions and there is no reason why it should not work in Ireland and I urge the Minister of State and his colleagues to have a look at this in time, perhaps, for the next outing at the polls or the one after that.

I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, which I hope is acceptable to Deputy Stanton. As this is something in which I have a strong personal interest, I am particularly delighted to be taking this matter, which I believe is a very worthwhile contribution. It was particularly noticeable in recent local and European elections that the date for those elections was obviously set, essentially, by the European Parliament and that these elections took place two weeks later in the calendar than they did five years ago. That brought these elections into June where the leaving certificate examinations had already got under way, many secondary schools had broken up for the summer and the holiday season is very much upon us. That was so apparent that at first glance, the turnout for these local and European elections was down on five years ago. A lot of that is down to the sheer fact that so many people were already away.

For the interest of the debate, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I wish to lay out the exact provisions under electoral law where postal voting is allowed at the moment. Deputy Stanton has already alluded to them and they include: whole-time members of the Defence Forces; members of An Garda Síochána; Irish diplomats serving abroad and their spouses or civil partners; electors living at home who are unable to vote because of an illness or a disability; electors whose occupation, service or employment makes it likely that they will be unable to vote in person at their local polling station on polling day; full-time students registered at their home who are living elsewhere while attending an educational institution in the State; prisoners; certain election staff employed at the poll outside the constituency where they reside; and anonymous voters, whose safety, or that of a member of their household, is compromised by publication of their details on the electoral register.

The Electoral Reform Act 2022 extended existing postal voting facilities previously only available to persons with physical health difficulties, to persons with mental health difficulties. A voter’s certifying medical practitioner no longer needs to provide the nature of the voter’s illness or disability. They can now indicate an expected duration, which the registration authority will have regard to when assigning a postal voting arrangement. This means that for those postal voters with longer-term or ongoing health difficulties, annual renewal will not be required.

The Electoral Reform Act 2022 also included provisions for the establishment of an independent, statutory Electoral Commission, An Coimisiún Toghcháin. An coimisiún has been given a new research function, through which it will conduct research on electoral policy and procedure.

The Programme for Government: Our Shared Future contains a commitment to examine the use of postal voting, with a view to expanding its provision. In support of this commitment, my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, wrote to an coimisiún in July 2023, outlining a number of issues that an coimisiún might include in its initial research programme. This included the programme for Government’s commitment relating to postal voting.

An coimisiún’s draft research programme 2024-26, published on 10 November 2023, included a proposal to examine the issue of postal voting. I understand that an coimisiún's finalised research programme will be published in the coming weeks. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, will review this policy area once an coimisiún has considered it and made recommendations on the issue itself.

In the brief minute of speaking time remaining to me, the examples which Deputy Stanton has given of international practice in this regard are interesting. Australia, of course, has mandatory voting like Belgium and other countries, so it is slightly askew, or one can be financially penalised if one does not vote, but there are other European jurisdictions which have moved, not just into a wider use of postal voting, but also of online voting. In Estonia and other countries we can see where people can vote online. We also see the opportunity being given in the UK for people to hold onto their postal vote for a considerable time, particularly if they are living abroad for any reason, which does not have to be for work. Today I think, also, is the last day for our friends in Northern Ireland to register for a postal vote ahead of their general election on 4 July. It is, of course, in practice in many other jurisdictions and from a personal point of view I would absolutely support Deputy Stanton's recommendations and I look forward to the commission's report.

I thank the Minister of State for his thoughtful response and his own personal commitment to work in this area. It is of great importance that it is moved forward as soon as possible. People are extraordinarily disappointed because they see themselves being disenfranchised if they cannot actually vote. People are paying their taxes and are working and raising their families here and just because they are away on holidays, or for whatever other reason as the Minister of State has alluded to, we should put these arrangements in place. The examples, as I have mentioned, of the UK, Australia, and New Zealand clearly demonstrate that with the implementation of stringent measures and clear guidelines, this can be done. These countries established secure systems that ensure the integrity of the vote while providing accessibility to all eligible citizens.

Furthermore, our current postal voting system for specific groups has already set a precedent. We have proven that we can run a secure and efficient postal voting system. Expanding this to include citizens who are temporarily away is a natural progression, not an unprecedented leap. By learning from the best practices of other democracies, we can tailor our system to mitigate any potential risks.

This will not add much to the administrative burden either because it is already in place because, as we know, we already have postal voting in place. As the Minister of State has said, modern technology can also streamline the application and verification process making it manageable and efficient. With proper handling and the allocation of resources, this can be done. Other democracies have managed it and I have also come across the system of proxy voting in some instances which, perhaps, we should also look at.

I am delighted that the commission is working on this. If the senior Minister wrote to the commission a year ago and it is now that it is actually responding, this demonstrates that it takes a long time to get anything done in this country. I am not sure whether or not it will be possible to have this done for the next general election, which we do not know will happen perhaps in either the autumn or the spring, but I would hope that the Minister of State, his colleagues and the commission would move to ensure that that would be the situation.

I thank Deputy Stanton. The issue of proxy voting is one on which I would personally have a mild concern but I have no issue at all with postal voting because there is an opportunity for all Deputies. We are all practitioners of and fundamentally cherish democracy. We spend our time not just in this Chamber but in going out to schools, community groups and other organisations to encourage people to vote, regardless of who they vote for, and it does not have to be for ourselves. We should therefore be facilitating the greatest level of access to democracy. Much has been done and there has been much improvement in allowing people to have that full access to ensure that they have their democratic right to vote. Of course, so much more can be done. The research the commission will be delivering in the next couple of weeks will define what the next step is for postal voting.

In some regards, perhaps we do not have to wait for the next couple of weeks because Deputy Stanton, is convener of the parliamentary friendship group with Canada, which is another country which has postal voting. All of us are lucky to engage with parliamentarians from other jurisdictions which have this.

There is a chance for groups who are interested in this, both in this House and in the Seanad, to come together to see how can we explore what is being done in other jurisdictions, as has already been laid out so eloquently by Deputy Stanton, where this is working and how can we take the report that will come and make sure that a rapid response is delivered, because Deputy Stanton is correct that it takes far too long to get certain things done in this country, particularly when it comes to democracy and the functioning of the State.

There is an opportunity, hopefully, to get this done before the general election. I genuinely believe that is there.

It strikes me that people who have booked a holiday before an election is called are robbed of their democratic mandate. We all know the anecdotal evidence of people who left these shores four or five years ago who come home to vote in breach of the Electoral Act but yet the people who are always here to vote who are very much participating in our society and our economy, only by the sheer fluke of timing, do not get that opportunity. Therefore, I look forward to the report and working with Deputy Stanton to further this with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien.

On the weekend of 8 and 9 June last, a major incident occurred on the Allow river, which is a tributary of the Munster Blackwater, in which over 5,000 fish were killed. That included species such as salmon, trout and lamprey.

The reason I raise this here today is because I am concerned, in the first instance, about that fish kill and that we do not have as of yet the full facts established as to how that happened.

I read about this incident on the RTÉ News website. It was Joe Mag Raollaigh who was reporting on it. Mr. Mag Raollaigh stated in that report that, "The investigation is being conducted by Inland Fisheries Ireland ..., the State agency responsible for the protection and conservation of freshwater fish and habitats."

That immediately prompted me to seek a briefing from Uisce Éireann, which operates the Freemount wastewater treatment plant. When I sought the briefing, I received correspondence from it basically stating that "A representative from Uisce Éireann is not available to brief the Deputy directly as our investigations are continuing and we will provide further updates in due course." I am given to understand that they provided a further update to an Oireachtas committee yesterday. However, I find that response to be unsatisfactory.

The IFI, to be fair, when I sought a briefing from it, was far more forthcoming in the facts that it sent to me. In a briefing that I received from the river basin district director, he states:

[A] Senior Fisheries Environmental Officer went directly to the location and began an inspection of the river Allow immediately upstream and downstream of the plant. The river was littered with dead fish - trout, salmon fry, lamprey, eels; there were no insects, caddis flies, water bettles, nymphs or any indicators of life up to 4 kms downstream. A follow up inspection 10th June identified that up to 8 kms of the river was affected. IFI estimate that at least 5,000 fish of various species were killed.

Irish Water have confirmed that an accidental discharge of Aluminum Chloride occurred on Sat night/ Sun morning. ... [Irish Water or Uisce Éireann] conducted operations to remove the contaminated soil and drain at the plant yesterday.

This is a serious incident because fish kills arising from entities that are operated by statutory bodies in this day and age are entirely unforgivable and entirely avoidable. I feel sorry for the people of that region who have invested so much in the upkeep of that river as a major tributary of the River Blackwater.

I have questions for the Minister. I wish to know whether the EPA, as the environmental regulator of Uisce Éireann, has the power to prosecute if it finds that there is fault at play here because if it is the case that Uisce Éireann was not fulfilling its statutory obligations in relation to the safety of the river, it needs to be put through the rigours on this one. Given the seriousness of the event, has the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, communicated with the statutory authorities in relation to this matter?

I thank Deputy Sherlock for raising this important issue and allowing me to update the House on matters relating to it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan.

As the Deputy will be aware, a serious pollution incident, resulting in a significant fish kill, occurred on 8 and 9 June on the Allow river, a tributary of the Munster Blackwater river. On Sunday, 9 June, Uisce Éireann was made aware of an incident at one of its wastewater plants, Freemount water treatment plant, in north Cork, with the result of chemicals entering nearby waters. Once the incident was identified, mitigating actions were taken immediately at the wastewater plant.

Inland Fisheries Ireland responded quickly to the incident, having been alerted to a spillage on the river and moved to an investigation phase, including carrying out water sampling in relation to the incident, which continues to be investigated. The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Parks and Wildlife Service were also notified. IFI is awaiting the report of the independent accredited laboratory in relation to the surface water samples taken at the time of the incident. It is important to note that Uisce Éireann has also assured the community there has been no impact on the quality of drinking water. Any spillage occurred downstream of the intake point for the plant and, therefore, would not impact on quality of water entering supply.

Given the numbers of vulnerable fish species in the affected waters, the pollution incident is an ecological disaster for fish in this river, at a time of significant biodiversity loss. Having said that, I can assure the Deputy that IFI, as the statutory body tasked with the protection, management and conservation of the inland fisheries resource, is extremely proactive in its efforts to prevent pollution incidents and will continue to exercise vigilance when dealing with pollution incidences and will utilise its powers to gather evidence and where warranted, use this evidence to bring cases before the courts. IFI has previously taken successful prosecutions in such cases. Inland Fisheries Ireland is empowered to undertake a variety of different types of protection patrols and inspections on different types of water bodies at different times of the year, as part of preventative measures to avoid pollution incidents on our rivers and lakes.

In the immediate aftermath of this incident, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has written to Uisce Éireann on this matter, as the Deputy inquired. There was previously a serious incident at the Freemount water treatment plant in August 2022, which was investigated by the EPA with specific findings to be addressed at that point. The Minister had requested Uisce Éireann to develop an enhanced standard of environmental protection in consultation with both the IFI and the EPA. The Minister will be meeting the CEO of Uisce Éireann on this matter in the coming weeks.

The Deputy raised the issue of an EPA prosecution. Based on case studies and precedent, that is more a matter for the IFI. However, it would be the EPA's responsibility to work with the various actors to ensure that this does not happen again, as well as finding out how it happened and to put in the preventative measures.

As I have alluded to, Deputy Eamon Ryan is fully abreast of this and will be engaging with all stakeholders and statutory bodies, as the Deputy mentioned. Of course, it is important to note that there is an active investigation into this pollution event and further action, including potential legal proceedings, will be informed by the outcome of that investigation. As the Deputy will understand, it would be remiss of me to go further than that in my reply.

I welcome the Minister of State's reply. I genuinely do, because that brings the story along. It is reassuring to know that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has written to the statutory body involved here and that a meeting will take place with the CEO of Uisce Éireann and we will see what the result of that meeting will be.

I feel sorry for the people of this region, and particularly the Kanturk and District Trout Anglers Association, which had a Trout Anglers Federation of Ireland's all-Ireland river championship competition scheduled to take place that weekend. To quote from themselves, as reported by Sean Murray in the Irish Examiner, that "celebration of our sport and a positive impact to the local economy is now gone".

These things are entirely preventable. What really worries me is the fact that, as the Minister of State noted, "There was previously a serious incident at the Freemount water treatment plant in August 2022". That being the case, the warning lights were shining. What preventative measures were carried out to prevent such an incident occurring again? Clearly, Uisce Éireann has a massive case to answer for this.

I share the Deputy's disappointment, and particularly for those local groups in the area who were impacted and the real loss of sporting opportunity as well as commerce to the region.

That is not something that should be stated glibly.

Obviously, the Government takes this major pollution event extremely seriously. As the House is aware, farmers have been asked to escalate their efforts around water quality protection, and therefore State agencies must do the exact same, if not a bit more. Moreover, there is a duty on the State bodies and actors in the public sector to take the lead in ensuring the risk of pollution incidents is minimised.

Investigations are continuing into the very serious incident raised, and there may be consequent legal proceedings. It is imperative that lessons be learned from this event so we will be in a stronger position to ensure the prevention of such events in the future. That there was a previous incident, in August 2022, does not mean the one under discussion is the same. There are different areas. Lessons may have been learned from one incident but, unfortunately, a different event may lead to secondary incident. Regardless, that is semantics because incidents of this nature are a significant source of concern owing to their devastating ecological impact, as well as their commercial and societal impact on the entire region.

The Minister has written to Uisce Éireann on the matter. He will be meeting its CEO shortly to be briefed on what systems Uisce Éireann will put in place to avoid a repeat of this kind of incident and, indeed, discover what happened, how it was resolved and what will happen to make sure it does not happen again. That is what we want to achieve.

I thank the Deputy for raising this and I will ensure the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and his officials stay in close contact with him as and when the investigation proceeds.