Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When can the people of Limerick expect to have a proper drinking water supply? This week, Irish Water customers were advised that a new water website has been launched to enable customers to access up-to-date information for their area. I went on the website and the information that was available was negligible. I spoke to a group of people from Fedamore, County Limerick, who have been on a boil water notice for the last 16 months. During that time they have never received a call from Irish Water. One father told me that his household is using up to 50 bottles of drinking water per week, at a cost of €60 per week or €15 a head. Another community in Kilteely has been waiting for a new water line for the last three years. Irish Water came to plug a hole each time there was a leak instead of replacing the pipe. Now, the cost of the amount of repairs for the last three years outweighs the price of replacing the pipe. We are paying people to repair pipes instead of replacing them. All our money is now going into repairs.

The quality of water has not improved. It should have improved, considering that €5.5 billion has been spent in Irish Water over five years. Something must be done about it. Everyone in this country is entitled to have good drinking water. We have set up Irish Water and it is a failed entity. It is not delivering, even though €5.5 billion has been spent on water systems. Fedamore in Limerick has been on a boil water notice for 16 months, costing a family €60 per week for water. With regard to anybody in this country who has an inadequate water supply due to the failure of Irish Water and the Government, will the Government subsidise those people for their drinking water, which they should have in their taps? Will the Government subsidise them until Irish Water can fix the problem? They have been 16 months without drinking water. A match in the local GAA club between two counties was cancelled because people were afraid of the water supply. There was the same issue in Croagh last year. Will the Government pay the people who have inadequate drinking water and subsidise them until the problem can be fixed? I am asking for that for the people of County Limerick. The biggest polluter in Limerick is the local authority because it is pumping raw sewage into the Shannon.

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