The number of tests to measure water cleanliness on Irish beaches will be cut from 19 to just two under an EU proposal to reform legislation governing bathing water standards. However, the Department of the Environment and the European Commission's Environment Directorate General both insist that the changes, if accepted, will improve water quality.
Under the plan, local authorities would take stringent samples for the intestinal enterococci and E.coli bacteria that cause gastro-enteritis and respiratory diseases, along with visual inspections for algal bloom, acidity and oil. Last year, 75 beaches and four marinas in the Republic met the highest standards laid down by the European Blue Flag organisation, which monitors standards in 22 countries. Just four beaches from the Republic put forward were rejected.
The Commission has also proposed that fewer samples would have to be taken from "consistently good-quality waters", while the overall number of sampling points would also be reduced.
The decision to cut the number of tests from 19 to two is justified, according to the Commission, because parallel legislation to monitor biological and chemical water pollution will come into force by 2006. "It is thus evident that the drastic reduction will provide for considerable reduction of costs, avoid parallel efforts, but at the same time not entail any reduction in the level of protection for the citizens," said the Commission.
In a briefing note to the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs, the Department of the Environment said the proposed changes to the 25-year-old bathing water directive were of "major significance". The changes would offer "significantly higher protection against the risk of contracting gastro-enteritis and respiratory diseases from bathing, said the Department.
Local authorities will be required to offer more information to the public about beaches in their area so that the public can make "a more informed choice" about where they bathe. However, the European Commission has rejected calls to set water quality standards for windsurfers, sailboarders and canoeists, who often practice up to 1 km from the shore.
The EU's efforts to improve bathing water have been markedly successful. In 1992, 84.9 per cent of beaches in the EU met quality standards. By 2001, this figure had risen to 95.8 per cent. The improvement along the more limited number of freshwater bathing areas has been even more striking. In 1992, just 47.5 per cent were compliant. By last year, this number had increased to 91.1 per cent. The new standards would come into force two years after the directive is adopted to give time to invest in extra sewage treatment.