Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The devil may be in the detail or perhaps there is a hidden message in it. I welcome the fact that Irish Water has given a date of May or June for the completion of the works in respect of the silt or, as it calls it, the turbidity. However, many people will not be too happy and will be stocking up on water for the next couple of years if the completion of the permanent solution is that far away. I am surprised to have been given the answer now. I welcome it because at least it is a reply and a response, which is a lot more than I have got before. However, if these parts are to be ordered from abroad, I hope we are not getting them from the likes of Wish or Alibaba because Brexit and everything else seems to be used as an excuse when they cannot issue something.

In my brief time, I will also welcome the mention the reply makes of the capacity issues and that Irish Water is looking ahead because it is a very significant factor. Without losing the sense of what I am saying, there is an emergency in housing and so forth countrywide. I know there is not capacity. I recall that, under Cork County Council's 2012 county development plan, there were plans for a village in Monard, out beyond Blarney. The issue at the time was that Irish Water would not bring a water main in to the area. As a result of issues with capacity, the plan fell through.

The issue I want to highlight is that people are under severe pressure because of this and have been for nearly three years. It is causing issues for families with young children, people with complex needs and so on. I also acknowledge that there are capacity issues in Mitchelstown in my constituency. I welcome the progress in Mallow. The waterworks in Midleton have always been there. I live in the heart of Midleton and the waterworks are behind me, yet I get my water from the Glashaboy scheme at Glanmire, which says enough about capacity issues.

As I said, overall I welcome the Minister of State’s reply. I am certainly looking forward to working with him. I would rather work him than whichever Member I asked the last time, because at least I got a reply from the Minister of State.

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