Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this debate. On Wednesday, 19 October 2005, I raised the issue of contaminated water with the Minister of State, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, who assured me that his Department would provide financial help on interim remedial measures. They have provided this help but the Minister of State also stated that he did not wish to see the people of Ennis living under the threat of "boil water" notices. He expected design stage of the new treatment plant to be completed by March 2006, construction and commissioning to take about 15 months and the plant to be operational by October 2007. The Government has got it wrong again. We have been told by Ennis Town Council officials that tenders for the new filtration plant have not yet been approved and that it will be the end of 2008 before a system is installed.

The people of Clare must live with a partial "boil water" notice covering children and the immuno-deficient. Ennis is the fastest growing town in Ireland, with a population of 20,000, estimated to increase to 40,000 by 2020. The people of Ennis have lost confidence in the Government, while their confidence in their water supply stands at an all-time low.

It is totally unacceptable in this day and age that people with limited means, particularly the parents of young children, those on social welfare benefits, and the elderly should pay for overpriced water in supermarkets or experience the cost and inconvenience of boiling tap-water. The council says the "boil water" notice applies to a small number of people and that it is constantly monitoring the situation with the HSE.

However, that is not the point, and it is not good enough. For a vulnerable group of people to have to fork out money for drinking water is grossly unfair, and for that reason Deputy Breen and I have tabled this motion. I am sorry the Minister is not here, and I know the Minister of State is taking the debate on his behalf. The Minister should provide adequate funding to Ennis Town Council so that bottled water might be subsidised for those vulnerable people.

I do not want to question the people of Galway, but it is quite obvious that the rapid response to the Galway crisis far outweighs Government action under its commitments to County Clare. I say the same thing regarding the Ennis main drainage preliminary report, which has lain idle in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government since 2002. Now the figures in it are out of date, and more consultants must be appointed at increased cost to the taxpayer. Above all else, we have a town with a damaged reputation for quality drinking water and a sewerage system so outdated it is ready to explode and create another serious crisis for the county town.

The Minister should be ashamed for not being here tonight, but having watched the "Prime Time" programme on the problem of water contamination throughout Ireland, I can see how he might hang his head.

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