Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has said Uisce \u00c9ireann has \u201cno excuse\u201d for high levels of manganese \u2014 up to eight times the maximum levels permitted in EU law \u2014 found recently in Cork city\u2019s public drinking water supplies.<\/p>\n
Mr Martin told The Echo that water is a public health issue, and the question of water quality \u201csimply has to be dealt with\u201d.<\/p>\n
Manganese is a naturally occurring mineral which can, at high levels, be extremely harmful, potentially affecting brain development in children, and in adults it can also cause symptoms similar to Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
The EU Drinking Water (2023) Regulations allow a maximum of 50 microgrammes per litre (\u00b5g\/L).<\/p>\n
In one week in September, manganese levels of 428\u00b5g\/L were recorded at Friars Walk, more than eight times the EU limit, as shown in data released following a Freedom of Information query by Sinn F\u00e9in TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould.<\/p>\n
That same week, beginning September 22, levels of 271\u00b5g\/L, more than five times the EU limit, were recorded at College Rd, while levels of 100\u00b5g\/L were recorded at Capwell and 108\u00b5g\/L at Deerpark, both of which were twice the EU limit.<\/p>\n
Between January and the end of September this year, two-thirds of all tests carried out in the Ballyhooley Rd B area showed manganese levels above EU maximums, while half of those carried out in the Ballyhooley Rd A area also failed to meet regulations.<\/p>\n
In February, the HSE expressed alarm at high levels of manganese in drinking water in Cork city, telling Uisce \u00c9ireann that if such exposure was ongoing, its immediate recommendation would be a \u2018Do Not Consume\u2019 notice.<\/p>\n
In March, manganese levels of 193\u00b5g\/L were recorded at Richmond Tce, off Gardiner\u2019s Hill, almost four times the EU maximum, and when The Echo published those figures in September, Mr Martin described the situation as \u201cvery serious\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite shocking that the levels would be that high, and if known about, the public should be made aware of it, of course,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n
Asked about the latest figures, Mr Martin said he had met recently with both Uisce \u00c9ireann and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and, he said, \u201cthere are issues there\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EPA have raised issues, and I\u2019m not entirely happy with the responses, there are issues in particular sites and locations,\u201d said Mr Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis speaks to governance, proper governance and management in wastewater treatment plants and in water supply plants, and there can be no excuse for that, and that\u2019s my view on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Taoiseach said he had also spoken with housing minister James Browne, who has responsibility for Uisce \u00c9ireann.<\/p>\n
\u201cWater is about public health, it\u2019s a public health issue,\u201d said Mr Martin.\u00a0\u201cYou know, if you take other plants and other sectors like pharmacy, these issues don\u2019t arise, can\u2019t arise, and it should not arise in the context of water.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, what Uisce \u00c9ireann will say, in its defence, is that the transition from local authorities to the national body has been slow and difficult, and all of that, but to me, public health is the bottom line here, and this simply has to be dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Uisce \u00c9ireann said: \u201cIn 2025, the vast majority of samples taken across the network are compliant: 94% for manganese, 96% for iron, and 94% for colour. Following all exceedances at customer properties, including those in September\u2026 an investigation is carried out, reactive flushing is typically undertaken, and follow-up sampling arranged. For the locations referenced, multiple compliant sample results have been returned since the reactive flushing work was carried out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has said Uisce \u00c9ireann has \u201cno excuse\u201d for high levels of manganese \u2014 up to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,79,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-128185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-cork-news","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}