Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

There is no public service utility more important than the provision of a dependable, high quality water supply. It is a residential requirement, a commercial necessity and is vital for tourism. There is substantial scope for improvement in the provision of the service throughout the State.

Treated water is a scarce and costly commodity. There is an onus on those responsible for its delivery - local authorities and the Government - to ensure it is delivered in a safe, efficient and dependable manner. There are large areas of my own county where the main water supply is still coming through cast iron pipes that were laid down 50 or 60 years ago. Corrosion has reduced some of these 8 in. pipes by 2 in. or 3 in., which is completely inadequate to meet demand. A great opportunity was missed in the Celtic tiger years to improve the delivery of water to communities and industry in every part of the country. There has been much talk recently of investment in infrastructure. We could certainly get people working if we upgraded the water delivery network in every part of the country, including Donegal.

Although Donegal was not the worst-hit county during the recent spell of frost and snow, I recall that Emmet Park in Castlefinn in my constituency did not have water for weeks on end. Water had to be transported from the hydrant to the houses so necessary facilities could be provided therein. It is not often said that those working with the local authorities to address these problems worked very hard. Men, and probably women, were out on Christmas Eve at midnight and on New Year's Eve up to midnight trying their best to ensure water was delivered to houses.

The pipe infrastructure must be upgraded. There are now polypipes available. In the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, cast-iron pipes are things of the past. Polypipes have a life expectancy of well over 100 years. We must address the problem and replace the existing pipes.

Another difficulty that arises is often overlooked. There are parts of the country, including my county, in which water is still delivered through asbestos pipes. I do not want to frighten anybody but, in this day and age, and with the history of asbestos and the danger it poses to health, I must state it is past time that asbestos and cast-iron pipes were replaced, for health reasons, with modern, safe polypipes. This would ensure a constant supply of water. There is a lot to be done.

Group schemes throughout the country, including in my county, ensure that water is available to most communities. Our aim is to provide high-quality water with a constant flow to every household in the country.

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