Water scandal all too familiar
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BETWEEN September and December last year, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland took 960 samples of bottled water from supermarkets, pubs, vending machines and so forth and sent them for laboratory testing. The results were horrifying.
Among the Irish samples, one in every 11 tested positive for pollutants. In the case of imported water, the figure was one in 119. In other words, the domestic variety was 10 times as dangerous as the foreign.
The figures speak for themselves, but they do not answer the string of pointed questions that must occur to everybody who hears or reads about this scandal. They have not yet been officially published. They appear in this newspaper today because we have seen a copy of a confidential draft report which describes the results of the tests as "cause for concern" -- a remarkable euphemism in view of what they reveal about serious dangers to public health.
And the confidential report is intriguing for what it does not reveal as well as what it does. It says that environmental health officers have taken "follow-up" action. It says that the FSAI has met representatives of the industry to discuss long-term control measures. But a more pertinent question is what this State safety watchdog will do about existing failings.
Breaches of European Union regulations are offences punishable by severe penalties, including prison sentences. At the time the regulations came into force, did the FSAI alert the producers?
Were the producers satisfied on the issue of quality control? One would have thought they would always take the greatest care, with or without legal requirements. They sell their products on the basis that they come from pure springs, free of all contamination.
Now that the FSAI document has come into the open, they run the risk that consumers may shun their products. This is a serious matter for economic and other reasons.
Last year Irish people drank 193 litres per head of bottled water with a retail value of €205m. Overwhelmingly it is safe. If sales fall, most of those who suffer will be innocent. It is in the industry's interest to restore confidence.
But there are bigger questions still. What kind of administration have we that permits the pollution of our water sources, diminishes our "green" image, threatens public health -- and withholds from publication a report which calls attention to a disgraceful situation?
Sadly, failures in these and other areas are all too typical.
