Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In the past 18 months, there have been 20 separate incidents of water shortages and outages in Skerries. I know this because my home has been affected. It gets worse the further up the hill one goes. There are young families, particularly in Barnageeragh and Hamilton Hill, who are having serious issues. For people with small children, it is not good enough to get 12 hours' notice of a water shortage. Sometimes they do not even get that. I echo what the other Deputies said, namely, that any alterations in the capital plans that have to be made should be made. I do not think it is acceptable to say to people that their water supply cannot be guaranteed because they live on a hill. Certainly, that was not said to them when they were buying their homes. They have the same right to an adequate supply of water as anybody else. It is disrespectful to refer to water restrictions and water shortages when many are experiencing a complete cessation of supply.

If the sun is shining, it is supposed to be a good thing. It cannot be the case that if one happens to live in Skerries, the sun shining means that one cannot have a shower in the evening. That is just not acceptable. It is not right. If a booster pump can be put in place, that should be done. Equally, measures to address this need to be taken because more building is planned. Skerries is a fast-expanding town. That is a very good thing. More building is planned even further up the hill in question. What will the Government say to those families? It is not acceptable that families with young children have to go to tanks or go to Swords and elsewhere to source bottled water, particularly when one considers the number of young families affected. The Government must be mindful of the fact that there have been 20 separate incidents in the past 18 months.

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