Cullen promises full review of all water supplies inWicklow

DAIL REPORT: All water supplies in Co Wicklow will be tested as quickly as possible, the Minister for the Environment promised in the Dáil, following the discovery of uranium in a well in Baltinglass.

Mr Cullen said that "we are going to get to the bottom of exactly what the position is in Wicklow, but it is hopefully unlikely that there has been any damage to health".

Describing it as a "full and comprehensive review" of all water supplies, the Minister said the testing would be done by Wicklow County Council with the involvement of the Environmental Protection Agency, which discovered the uranium 238 in a well supplying between 100 and 200 houses in Baltinglass.

The Minister stressed the uranium was naturally occurring and was possibly there "hundreds of years", but added that the testing would be done speedily to assure the public as quickly as possible.

The well at Lathaleere, which supplied up to 200 houses was shut down, following the discovery, but Mr Billy Timmins (Fine Gael, Wicklow) asked for specific testing on the two other sources of water for Baltinglass, wells at Bawnogue and Tinoran. He understood the level of Uranium in one of the two was over and above recommended World Health Organisation levels.

Labour's deputy leader and local TD, Ms Liz McManus said the discovery was a "cause of great anxiety for households in the area directly affected, which includes a hospital".

The water supply the hospital depended on "contains high levels of uranium, a material that is both toxic and radioactive".

Uranium, she said "has the possibility of damaging kidneys and causing kidney failure". Ms McManus asked the Minister to ensure resources were made available for research as to any possible damage to people's health that may have occurred over the last 15 years.

And she questioned the time lag between the uranium discovery and the council actually closing down the well.

Mr Cullen said the delay wasn't that long. Research and laboratory testing had to be done and there was consultation with the health board. "But it was moved along as quickly as I think one could have wished for, in the circumstances." He was not sure what resources would be required after the testing but he would assess it. He stressed that it "is my objective for my tenure in office to rid us of the water issue once and for all". Notwithstanding the difficulties in the public finances this was one of his primary objectives.

Mr Ciaran Cuffe (Green Party, Dún Laoghaire) said facts were "badly needed" to establish the "differential health risks on naturally occurring radon in homes and naturally occurring uranium in the water supply".

"It is of huge importance to concentrate on the hotspots around the country, and that we proceed not just with testing but with action to change the source of water supply where necessary," Mr Cuffe added.

Mr Cullen was hopeful that information would emerge, and "obviously that is going to teach us some lessons in regard to the specifics of Wicklow but it may be able to be transposed to other areas of the country, based on the geological formations that exist".

All deputies expressed concern about the lack of research in the area and the Minister agreed that research was "thin on the ground" both in Ireland and at EU level but work was underway towards creating an EU directive which would then apply to Ireland.