Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chinn Comhairle. Tá mé buíoch duit as ucht an deis seo an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo a ardú. I am very glad for a further opportunity to raise this issue. The population of Ratoath, including the wider area which is quite large as compared with 20 years ago when it was a small village, is approximately 12,500 and the issues I am raising also apply to Ashbourne, which is served by the same water supply. Ratoath suffers from regular water outages, with dozens in the past number of years. People do not know when they can expect water. There are local issues and issues with some housing estates and there is pressure within the village. The key issue is supply to the village from the Staleen water treatment plant.

There was a public meeting some months ago where a number of measures were announced to have been agreed. One had already been agreed, which was to replace 1.4 km of pipework within the village, which is starting next week. The experts and engineers tell us that this will provide some relief to the area and more pressure into Ratoath. However, another thing was promised at the meeting by the Government, which was that the long pipe from Staleen to Ratoath would be replaced over the next two years. If this was completed it would also have huge benefit for Ashbourne, which is also suffering from water outages due to the distance between the towns and the water treatment plant, as well as the state of the pipe. I accept that the internal works in Ratoath will start next week and I welcome the engagement between business and Irish Water, which I hope will continue. I also hope Irish Water will take into account what business and residents are saying.

Where stand the promises made at the meeting with residents in March to the effect that the Staleen water pipe would be upgraded over the next couple of years? What about the promise that investigations would take place into the bore hole and well at the military housing estate? I am aware that some work has been done on that and I am wondering what is its status. Are Irish Water and the Government saying that this will not be done to give relief to people in certain housing estates?

We just want clarity and we want the Minister to know the difficulties my constituents are facing. This is a young town with lots of young children who depend on the water supply, and there are some cases of people with disabilities who depend on a stable water supply. There are a lot of small businesses in this village but we do not have many franchise stores. Instead, we have individual business owners who depend on a stable water supply on a day-to-day basis for their customers. They pay their water charges and standing charges to Irish Water, rates to Meath County Council and taxes to the general taxation fund of the Government and they are entitled to be able to rely on a water service, as are all the residents.

I hope the Minister can give some clarity on the promises that have been made on the Ratoath water supply. I hope he takes on board the genuine concerns residents have raised about which Irish Water, the Government and Meath County Council know and I hope he tells us what action the Government is planning.

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