Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Challenges Relating to the Delivery of Housing: Discussion (Resumed)

2:00 am

Mr. Phelim O'Neill:

It is key that great does not get in the way of good. I have to give credit to the utilities because they are looking at a number of temporary solutions. It is like trying to improve the network while also delivering on the huge projects in their pipeline which will deliver the level of capacity we will need going forward. They are working on two fronts: capital infrastructure for mega projects, as well as the sticky plaster solutions for the near term. We work with them closely and I have found them innovative and supportive. They are trying to find solutions at all junctures. It cannot be all things to all people. There have to be limits. In some areas of the country, the capacity simply is not there. The ground network, groundwater and type of material underneath do not facilitate these temporary solutions. It is case by case but I expect interim solutions will be key.