Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This event has created a great strain on many public services and Irish Water and its staff are no different. We commend them on and thank them for their ongoing work and efforts to address the leaks to which my colleagues have referred. At a recent meeting of our joint committee, Mr. Grant informed the members that Irish Water had learned a great deal from Storm Ophelia and the crisis in Drogheda and east Meath and that it had put storm planning and procedures in place should the company be tested in that way again. I wonder if that was the case given the haphazard way in which people have been communicated with on outages. I seek an assurance that this will be addressed in the coming days and that other emergency services and facilities will not be left without a supply which is adequate to meet their demands. I have also written to the energy regulator, which has responsibility in this area, to request an independent assessment to ensure that any failings in recent weeks, however minor, are corrected and that a proper plan is put in place to deal with similar events in future. I hope the Minister concurs with that approach.

Part of the compromise the Dáil agreed in respect of the Water Services Act and the funding of water services into the future was a requirement to improve the transparency and accountability associated with Irish Water through the establishment of a water advisory board.

There has been no progress to date in that regard. If a board were in place today, the public interest would be well served by adequate representation to ensure issues such as this are dealt with properly, effectively and appropriately. The public would be in a position to respect the workings and ongoing efforts on the part of Irish Water. Could we have an update on the process? When will the board put in place? It is based on a direction of the Dáil. I hope the Government will not be any slower in adhering to such a direction.

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