Cabinet Committees
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-24
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John Connolly (FF), Galway West

I ask the Government to examine legislation and regulation in respect of the term "bathing season". The bathing season began on 1 June and will run until the end of September. The challenge is that local authorities will only sample water quality in bathing areas during the bathing season. This is despite the fact that people are now swimming outdoors throughout the year. This has developed in popularity since the Covid pandemic began. We do not know the quality of the water people are swimming in outside of what is considered the bathing season. Galway City Council only samples the water during the bathing season. Dublin City Council is the only local authority in the State that samples water outside of the bathing season. I know the Taoiseach himself enjoys a swim on Christmas Day. Everyone who enjoys swimming throughout the year needs to know the quality of the water they are swimming in.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-24