Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a basic human right in a civilised, modern society to have a safe, clean, uninterrupted water supply. It may be construed that I have a conflict of interest because my company sometimes works on repairing and replacing water mains. However, in many parts of Kerry, especially mid-Kerry and the Killarney area, residents, businesses and hotels are faced with a constant barrage of outages day after day. Residents in places like Barleymount, Aghadoe, Laharan, Pallas and Beaufort, from the Gap of Dunloe and all along the board of works road from Beaufort to Gearagh Cross, people are tormented. People in the areas of Faha, Listry, Foynes, Milltown, Castlemaine and Farranfore are suffering outages day after day. Even New Street in Killarney town had one the day before yesterday.

The long and the short of it is the shambolic condition of the pipe network is the cause, much of which is obsolete and contains asbestos that needs to be replaced. Many of these asbestos pipes have exceeded their 35-year lifespan, which means they should be replaced. The large asbestos pipe on the central regional water supply from Lough Guitane through Killarney to Tralee, supplying our hospitals and more than 60,000 customers, is in a precarious condition and needs to be urgently replaced. More often than not, it breaks in Farranfore on the N22. If it were not for our excellent Kerry County Council water repair crews, under Freddie Bartlett and others, who use their vast experience, intelligence and expertise to repair the pipes as quickly as possible, save as much as water possible, build up the pressure and restore the supply to customers, the situation would be very much worse.

I also thank the fire brigade, which has had to be brought in recently to replenish water supplies in the Killarney and Aghadoe areas. It cannot be right that the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, and local authorities want these crews to move across to Irish Water. These crews include engineers, technicians and general operatives who have given valuable service. It is not fair or right to put them under such pressure to move across to Irish Water. Many of them have worked for 20, 30 and even up to 40 years repairing water supplies for Kerry County Council. I value the experience they bring to the water service because I worked with many of them going back in time. I understand the value they add to the water network system.

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