MINISTER FOR Environment John Gormley says he believes that public confidence can be restored in drinking water in Galway if all the relevant agencies work together.
Mr Gormley was responding to a call by the Fine Gael Mayor of Galway, Pádraig Conneely, at the weekend that he should visit Galway with senior officials from his water services division and assume management control.
The problem was "not a resource issue" and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) legally binding direction would ensure action was taken, a spokesman for the Minister said yesterday.
Mr Gormley has urged all of the relevant bodies, including the EPA, Galway City Council, the Health Service Executive (HSE) West and city councillors, to "work together" towards a solution.
The EPA direction gives Galway City Council until October 15th to prepare an action programme and identify all sections of the water supply distribution network in the city, including the extent of lead piping in the system.
However, Galway City Council came in for further criticism from councillors at the weekend when it emerged that an alternative emergency supply of water for residents in Mervue was also contaminated with lead and had to be shut down.
Anger was also expressed by some councillors over confirmation in The Irish Times that the local authority had been aware for a number of years about the problems with a lead pipe network.
The EPA report on drinking water quality for 2004 shows seven "exceedances" of maximum lead limits in tests in Galway city and refers specifically to the lead pipe network problem.
One of the results for a test in Shantalla in 2004 was almost 11 times the maximum limit of 25 micrograms at litre, at 273 micrograms a litre. Lead test results for 2005 showed three exceedances, and one exceedance in 2006 was for 149 micrograms. The random testing in 2007, which showed no exceedances, took place mainly in newer suburbs of the city.
Green Party councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin said it was "unpardonable" that the lead results for 2004 and other years were not signalled to councillors.
"It is clear that the lead problem is not new, and I believe we were misled by city officials who were party to information which they did not convey to us.
"Also, if an emergency standpipe also tests positive for lead, as we have now seen in Mervue, the local authority doesn't know the extent of its lead pipe distribution network," he said yesterday.
Residents in Mervue who were informed early on Saturday that the emergency standpipes were being shut down, due to lead contamination, were offered water from tankers. However, a number of residents said that they did not trust any water delivered by the local authority at this stage.
The Mervue residents had been told to boil water from the standpipes before drinking it - but boiling multiplies the toxic effect if water has lead. Progressive Democrat councillor Terry O'Flaherty said she was very concerned about the impact on pregnant women, children and the elderly, but also said that she felt that "bickering won't solve the problem".
"Most of the people in Mervue are back to buying bottled water and won't touch anything else," Ms O'Flaherty said. "We've become like Spain."