Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister of State's reply. He has given me some comfort with his assurance that he will raise the issue with Irish Water. That is to be welcomed. Although I am not a scientist, I have seen the water samples that were presented on Monday at approximately 8.30 p.m. The "do not use" notice had been lifted some time on Monday morning or afternoon. The residents of Belvelly have no confidence in the water supply. We want Irish Water to be called to account for the lifting of the "do not use" notice. There are serious public safety and public health issues for the residents. They are being told by Irish Water that they can drink the water now, but they see clear discolouration when they look at the water. There are children, babies, older people and people with compromised health living in the community. People want to have confidence that their water supply is as it should be. We want to see an evidence base or benchmark for the quality assurance used by Irish Water. We do not know how, or against what benchmark, Irish Water is measuring what qualifies as or what constitutes good or bad water. The point I would make about the flushing of the pipes is that the water supply infrastructure is very old and Dickensian. It needs capital investment. In light of the number of people living in the Belvelly area - I have been told that up to 175 houses are affected - I am asking for a solution to be found. If we can find €500 million for a rainy day fund, I am sure we can divest a fraction of that amount to start fixing problems like this. Notwithstanding the Minister of State's comments, there is a wider issue with how Irish Water sometimes communicates with Members of the Oireachtas. The relationship is very positive at local level, but further up the food chain the level of engagement with Members tends to diminish from time to time.

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