Phil Prendergast (Labour)

I welcome the Minister. Not for the first time the House is experiencing déjÀ vu because, as the motion points out, we had the same debate this time last year following the extraordinary conditions that affected the country over the Christmas period. I am sure this sense of déjÀ vu was felt more acutely and painfully by the hundreds of thousands of householders, elderly people, care workers, nurses and business owners who faced another serious or sustained water shortage or a complete lack of mains water. My constituency suffered serious water shortages and many areas were affected throughout County Tipperary. In common with the rest of the country, demand peaked during St. Stephen's Day when the rapid thaw put water reserves and the water infrastructure under extraordinary pressure. The county engineer outlined startling figures in this regard. South Tipperary is no stranger to water issues as normally we have too much of it when the river is not contained within its banks.

However, as with last year's debate, I refer to the local agency response and genuinely acknowledge that many council employees worked incredibly long hours throughout the Christmas holiday as part of the countywide effort to alleviate problems in the worst affected areas. A total of 83 personnel were engaged by South Tipperary County Council, STCC, to manage water supplies at the peak of the drinking water emergency response in the following areas: leak detection, three; leak repairs, 24; contractors, 24; support staff, 25; and supervisory staff, seven. A total of 31 public mains leaks were detected and repaired along with 645 public connections and ten mains plus consumer connections giving a total of 686 works. Like every other local authority, STCC had a busy time responding to this emergency. The council also used tankers in a number of areas and it kept its website and local radio and press updated during the period. An emergency number was available to the public and sufficient staff worked to deal with the supply problem, which was the authority's responsibility. The majority of calls related to frozen pipes.

Last year, there was widespread criticism of the national response to the weather crisis. I accept we have been exceptionally unlucky to endure such weather conditions again so soon after the previous crisis. However, it must be acknowledged that adjectives such as unprecedented and extraordinary diminish in both power and meaning when an inadequate crisis response is repeated less than 12 months later. Once again the crisis was defined by appalling and inconsistent reports and communications.

Last year, the Labour Party proposed a simple and cost neutral initiative involving a website that the Government owns and runs to communicate more effectively during times of crisis. The home page of www.emergencyplanning.ie, the dedicated home for Ireland's emergency response planning states:

In Ireland different Government departments and agencies are responsible for specific emergency planning functions. In the event of a major emergency, the most appropriate department or agency is designated as the lead agency to co-ordinate the response to it.

I have no issue with the principle of a multi-agency response to crisis planning and preparedness. We supported the recent call to involve all stakeholders, including the community and voluntary sector, in alleviating the worst effects of the weather crisis. The problem with the statement is the cack-handed and ineffective approach to co-ordinated and cohesive communication. The site might as well be called www.passthebuck.ie for all the use it is to worried people in search of information. The site instructs visitors to visit the websites of their local authorities, despite wildly inconsistent standards in, and commitments to, the provision of information during crises.

I make the following inexpensive and practical suggestion for an improvement in this area: to ask a web designer to produce an interactive map of the 26 counties. During crises, everyone, regardless of where he or she lives, should be directed to www.emergencyplanning.ie. The website would need to be sufficiently robust to manage a sudden heightened influx of traffic. Visitors could then click on the appropriate electoral area on the map, which would call up the emergency update page with information and advice relevant to a user's locality. These updates could be carried out and logged by a trained member of each local authority communications team. One or two members of the sizeable Government communications team could be briefly seconded to the service to support and streamline the information from the top down.

Such an approach should be supported by a vibrant and interactive social media response on Twitter and Facebook. That is how a corporate entity would respond to a crisis because a private sector company would be acutely aware of the enormous financial and reputational cost of a perceived communications failure. I appeal to the Minister to consider this simple, cost free proposal to streamline and centralise communications. Information is critical during crises and people generally understand such crises are by their nature difficult to manage and unpredictable but it is essential that the State engages, communicates and advises effectively.

Similarly, it may be worth investing in a targeted public information campaign next December on what to do during a water crisis. The problems were greatly exaggerated by the ill-considered actions of some people. Leaving taps running to ensure pipes do not freeze is a disaster for the mains system and places considerable additional pressure on a struggling infrastructure. It is also clear that many people are not sufficiently informed about the importance of insulation, how to prevent pipes freezing, how to defrost pipes, liability as a result of commercial leaks and so on.

Major infrastructural investment is required in our antiquated water mains system. Naturally, such investment was ignored when the Government had the money and the situation has reached a critical phase at precisely the time we can least afford to invest. Nonetheless, investment should be a priority for the next Government, of which I hope to be a part, and it should constitute an essential part of the diminished capital projects list. Our century old cast iron system loses up to 40% of the treated supply of drinking water annually and it is ill-equipped to deal with the temperature fluctuations we experienced last month. Engineers Ireland estimates that 5% of the system needs to be replaced annually just to retain the existing network. Our low population density presents considerable problems. Ireland has the most extensive water mains system per head of population in Europe. I commend my colleagues, Senators Fitzgerald, Coffey and O'Reilly, on tabling the motion.