S.I. No. 673/2025 - European Union (Drinking Water) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 2nd January, 2026.

I, JAMES BROWNE, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving further effect to Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000, and Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020, hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Drinking Water) (Amendment) Regulations 2025.

2. In these Regulations, “Principal Regulations” means European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2023 (S.I. No. 99 of 2023).

3. Regulation 3 of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting for paragraph (4) the following:

“(4) Paragraph (3) comes into operation on 13 January 2026.”.

4. Regulation 8(3) of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting “the water supplier or local authority concerned” for “the water supplier concerned”.

5. Regulation 13 of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting for—

(a) paragraph (7) the following:

“(7) The EPA may direct a water supplier or a local authority to amend, in such manner as the EPA may specify, a monitoring programme submitted by the water supplier or a local authority to the EPA under paragraph (6)(ii), and the water supplier or the local authority shall comply with that direction.”, and

(b) paragraph (16) the following:

“(16) Guidelines for consultations under paragraph (15) shall be jointly developed by the EPA, the HSE, Uisce Éireann and local authorities in relation to managing watch list substances.”.

6. Regulation 14 of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting for paragraph (9) the following:

“(9) The records referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be kept at the principal office of the water supplier concerned, and shall be made available by digital means or upon reasonable request by any person for inspection during office hours.”.

7. Regulation 15 of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting for paragraph (4) the following:

“(4) A supervisory authority may give a direction to a water supplier in respect of any action to be taken by the water supplier under paragraph (1)”.

8. Regulation 17 of the Principal Regulations is amended—

(a) by substituting for subparagraph (a) of paragraph (4) the following:

“(a) In the event of non-compliance with the parametric values or with the specifications set out in Table C in Schedule 1, the water supplier or the local authority concerned, in consultation with the HSE, shall consider whether or not such non-compliance poses a risk to human health, and the water supplier shall take remedial action to restore the quality of water intended for human consumption where that is necessary to protect human health.”. and

(b) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:

“(5A) In the event of non-compliance with the parametric values set out in Table D of Schedule 1, remedial action by the water supplier shall include the measures set out in Regulation 12(5).”.

9. Regulation 18 of the Principal Regulations is amended—

(a) by substituting for subparagraph (c) of paragraph (6) the following:

“(c) the geographical area, the quantity of water supplied each day, the population concerned, and whether any relevant food business operator would be affected;”, and

(b) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following:

“(9) Where the EPA grants a derogation to a water supplier, that water supplier shall inform its customers, including both domestic consumers and commercial users, of the water quality status with respect to the derogation. Such notification shall ensure that relevant food business operators are able to comply with their obligations under the European Communities (Hygiene of Foodstuffs) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 369 of 2006) or the European Union (Food and Feed Hygiene) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 22 of 2020).”.

10. Regulation 22 of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting for paragraph (4) the following:

“(4) An authorised officer, when exercising any powers conferred on an authorised officer by these Regulations, may be accompanied by such other authorised officers, members of An Garda Síochána and such other persons or equipment as that authorised officer may consider necessary.”.

11. The Principal Regulations are amended by inserting after Regulation 33 the following:

“33A Notwithstanding the requirements of Regulation 18 of the European Union (Official Controls in relation to food legislation) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 79 of 2020) and Regulation 32(a) of the European Union (Food and Feed Hygiene) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 22 of 2020), the FSAI and an official agency of the FSAI carrying out functions under a service contract pursuant to section 48 of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act 1998 may exchange information on drinking water quality in food businesses with the supervisory authorities as may be required and requested, in writing, for the purposes of Regulation 3(3)”.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

17 December, 2025.

JAMES BROWNE,

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations —

• give further effect to the transposition and implementation of the State’s obligations under the Drinking Water Directive 2020 (EU) 2020/2184;

• as an objective concern the quality of water intended for human consumption;

• protect human health from the adverse effects of any contamination of water intended for human consumption by ensuring that it is wholesome and clean, and to improve access to water intended for human consumption.