Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Irish Water is not a part of that. It cannot apply for planning permission under Part 8. We are giving Irish Water the same exemptions the local authorities had before - nothing less, nothing more, just exactly what was always there. A question was asked about pipes going through people's gardens, public pipes going through private gardens. Because gardens can extend over boundaries over lifetimes, what has generally happened is that the lanes that people own on council properties would disappear. That is being dealt with. We are trying to get a working arrangement to sort that out. If it needs legislation, we will introduce it. This was not done on purpose; it was missed during the changes made a number of years ago.

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