Emergency warnings by municipal health authorities
Act amending section 3 of the Act on Emergency Warnings
Municipal health protection authorities will be able to issue emergency warnings directly, for example in the event of drinking water contamination. The change will speed up warnings to residents and prevent illnesses during waterborne epidemics.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 19 Dec 2024
- Latest event
- 20 Mar 2025
- Votes
- 0
- Speeches
- 10
- Confirmed
- 25 Apr 2025
- Statute
- 198/2025
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
Municipal health protection authorities will be added to the list of authorities authorised to issue official emergency warnings for broadcast on radio, television and mobile applications.
What it means
The amendment will eliminate unnecessary delays in situations where information and instructions, such as an advisory to boil tap water or restrict its use, must be provided quickly to residents. The reform applies to supervisory units in municipalities and environmental health co-operation areas, as well as users of the water supply network. The act is intended to enter into force on 2 May 2025.
How Parliament voted
The bill passed without a vote – no MP proposed rejecting or amending it in plenary.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
10 speeches · 8 speakers · 2 debates
Key points of the debate
Parliament debated a legislative proposal granting municipal health protection authorities the right to directly issue emergency warnings, for example in cases of drinking water contamination. The debate was completely unanimous, with the proposal seen as speeding up the flow of critical information and improving public safety. All parliamentary groups that took the floor supported the legislative amendment.
- National Coalition PartyIn favour
The National Coalition Party (NCP) considered the proposal highly commendable and a necessary lesson learned from previous water crises, in which delays in communication caused widespread illness.
”Esitys vaaratiedotteen laajentamisesta niin, että kunnan terveysviranomaisilla olisi myös oikeus sellainen antaa kriisitilanteessa, on kyllä kannatettava.”
— Pauli Kiuru - Finns PartyIn favour
The Finns Party (Finns) supported the proposal because extending the powers removes unnecessary intermediaries from the flow of information and enables rapid warnings in dangerous situations.
”Esitys nopeuttaisi väestön tiedonsaantia ja tehostaisi viranomaisten toimintaa, sillä jatkossa kunnan terveydensuojeluviranomaisen ei tarvitsisi turvautua muihin viranomaisiin vaaratiedotteen antamisessa.”
— Mari Rantanen - Social DemocratsIn favour
The Social Democrats (SDP) considered the bill to be an excellent and necessary precautionary preparedness measure in view of expanding water supply networks and other risks.
”tämä terveydenhuollon ammattilaisten mahdollisuus laittaa vaaratiedote liikkeelle on paikallaan, ja siinä mielessä tämä on sitä varautumista ja ennakoimista, jos jotain tapahtuu.”
— Lauri Lyly
This digest was generated by AI from 10 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Keskustelu päättyi. Asia lähetettiin hallintovaliokuntaan.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi hallituksen esitykseen HE 206/2024 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen sisällön mietinnön mukaisena. Lakiehdotuksen ensimmäinen käsittely päättyi.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 19 Dec 2024Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Sisäministeriö
- 11 Feb 2025Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 27 Feb 2025Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · hallintovaliokunta
- 6 Mar 2025Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 11 Mar 2025Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 19 Mar 2025Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki vaaratiedotteesta annetun lain 3 §:n muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 198/2025 · 25 Apr 2025
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki vaaratiedotteesta annetun lain 3 §:n muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan vaaratiedotteesta annetun lain (466/2012) 3 §:n 15 kohta, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 1210/2020, ja lisätään 3 §:ään, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 1210/2020, uusi 16 kohta seuraavasti:
3 §Toimivaltaiset viranomaiset
Vaaratiedotteen saa antaa:
15) Ahvenanmaan valtionvirasto;
16) kunnan terveydensuojeluviranomainen.
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 13 Sep 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.