Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 25 April 2024

Committee on Public Petitions

Public Petition on Kiltimagh Water Scheme: Discussion

Photo of Gerard CraughwellGerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I thank the Department for making its position clear in all of this. I am sorry for interrupting Mr. Kelly. I really do not know why he is here. As regards Mayo County Council and Uisce Éireann, another committee on which I sit heard from Iarnród Éireann. I asked witnesses from Iarnród Éireann about putting in a spur line from Swords to Dublin Airport. They told me it would take a year to plan it and a year to put it in. This is a major capital project that would be done in two years. The case before us has been going on since 2018. Nobody seems to be taking responsibility for it. Everybody seems to be doing their job. When we look at the presentations, we can see that everybody seems to be doing their job but nobody is taking responsibility for the execution of this. Regarding a project that has been going on since 2018, I would hate to be living in a place where I sought a connection to the water system and we had a fair idea of what it was going to cost but by the time the system was put in place, we had no idea. I think Mr. Condon said the final cost to the families involved is not yet determinable. That seems outrageous at this stage. We are talking about something that has been six years in planning. From what Mr. Joyce tells me, once the project goes ahead, it will be a major project so there will be a fair length of a lead in. We are not talking about water being available in Kiltimagh in a month or two. It looks to me like this is going to be a major project from the perspective of Uisce Éireann. I am not sure who is talking to who or who is ultimately responsible for the delivery of the project. Where is the project manager, who is the project manager and what is the timeline for this? What reassurance can we give the people of Kiltimagh today that they are going to have water in the foreseeable future because six years is too long to wait for a project?