Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses from Uisce Éireann for attending the meeting. I do not sit on this committee but I have come in here because of some very important issues in my constituency.

First and foremost, I am unsure if the witnesses are familiar with the village of Shannonvale. It is a beautiful picturesque village on the outskirts of my home town of Clonakilty. The beautiful River Argideen weaves its way through the village. Unfortunately, for the past 15 years, the community and the people who live in Shannonvale, the families and children, have had to put up with excrement and sewage seeping up through the surface of the playpark in the centre of the village. This is the community and children's play area. It is where I and my peers used to play when we were kids. It is right on the river. Children can no longer play there, however. As I said, there is excrement and sewage coming up through it. It is desludged every now and then but that does not fix it, so it is cordoned off with barriers. We can only imagine what is it like for the community and the people who live in Shannonvale that the centre of the village, the area where children play and the location for community events, barbecues and whatever else, is out of bounds and has been such for 15 years.

Uisce Éireann's response is a bit cold, to be honest. It stated the problem could be fixed at a cost of €900,000. The septic tank causing the issue serves nine houses. On the face of it, €900,000 for nine houses, amounting to €100,000 per house, does not add up as a business case for Uisce Éireann. It is so much more than just balancing a financial equation, however. This is a community's playground and it has been taken from them for 15 years. To say that it does not make business sense or that it does not add up is just not good enough for them.

I am pleading with Uisce Éireann, including Mr. Gleeson as CEO, to please prioritise Shannonvale and put it on a capital programme. This is not just a business case; it is a community playground. The community wants it back. Everybody in the community in Shannonvale, Clonakilty and the wider area wants to have this play and community area back. We can do that if we can just fix the issue.