Greens call for licensing of group water schemes
The Green Party has called for a licensing system for group water schemes after the Environmental Protection Agency reported that 25% of these schemes are contaminated by human and animal faeces.
The EPA insisted that the quality of drinking water in Ireland is generally satisfactory, but it could only report a 0.3% improvement in quality in the last year and admitted that contamination at many sources of drinking water deteriorated during 2002.
Green Party spokesman Ciaran Cuffe said: "We need to have a licensing system in place to make sure that people's health is protected. The Government did talk about introducing a licensing system, but it appears to be years away."
