Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, on his appointment and wish him the very best in his term in office.

Water metering is the priority of Irish Water to the exclusion of required emergency works to deal with contaminated water supplies and provide for the replacement of deficient pipelines leaking millions of gallons of water every year. Kerry County Council has an extensive network of water pipes that are leaking continuously. The intermittent supply to thousands of households in the county is a nuisance and an inconvenience and financially demanding on householders who must make other arrangements such as purchasing bottled water for drinking from shops or going to a neighbouring townland to obtain potable drinking water.

There is an urgent need for Irish Water to give approval to Kerry County Council to proceed to upgrade pipelines. Recently, €850,000 was approved for the mid-Kerry area, but there is an urgency to provide, in the medium to short term, up to €10 million to deal with the burst pipes throughout the county. I commend Irish Water for giving approval for the replacement of lead pipes in Tralee. There is disappointment that the lead pipes within the boundaries of households will not be replaced. Perhaps the Minister might intervene and provide grant aid to allow the houses in question to be replumbed. Unknowingly, the people affected lived in their homes for the past 50 years without knowing there was contamination of their drinking water. It is calculated that the water supply in over 55,000 houses in the country is contaminated, as well as in schools. I ask the Minister of State to liaise with the Minister for Education and Skills to look after schools at an early stage.

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