Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Two of the Deputies here are living with this problem in Skerries. For the rest of us, the legacy underinvestment and people having to conserve water during dry spells applies in all the areas in which we live. We have not had to endure what the people in Skerries have had to endure for the past week. That is the nub of the matter - they have not just endured this for the past week, it has been the worst part of the problem but it has been evident for a period. We must address the fact that the usage of the reservoir is more than the rate of recharge and the system cannot cope with the number of houses using it. Somebody made a decision and it was not the people who are enduring this problem. Whoever made the decision to which I refer must be held to account for it and for other decisions to use the same network.

The rate of recharge must be increased by using appropriately treated groundwater. We are in the unique position of having a high-yield aquifer right beside the reservoir in Thomastown. For God's sake, it could help to recharge the reservoir and we need to do it now. We must take on board all of the other points made by the Deputies present.

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