Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an ábhar seo a ardú agus an deis a thabhairt dom, ar son an Aire Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta, déileáil leis. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and giving me an opportunity to address it on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, who cannot be present but who sends his apologies.

Group water schemes are independent community-owned enterprises and an important means of providing piped water to rural areas where no such supply exists. In the interest of public health, Kildare County Council, as the supervisory authority under the drinking water regulations for private water supplies, issued a "Do not consume" notice to the Kilteel group water scheme earlier this year. The notice prohibits the use of the water supply for either drinking purposes or the preparation of food.

As this is a private supply, primary responsibility for its resolution rests with the management of the supply. The Department's multi-annual rural water programme provides capital funding under a number of measures, including for group water schemes, to enable the resolution of infrastructural deficiencies, in particular those that are causing or risk causing water quality issues. The council has informed my Department that it continues to work with the management of the supply to assist it in addressing its water quality issue.

Given the public health concerns, the Department has asked the council to examine and report back on the most appropriate approaches for resolving the issues with the supply by examining solutions in the short, medium and longer terms. In the short term, the council is examining the options for the supply and providing a temporary water supply for the area by using a tanker. As a medium-term solution, the Department has asked the council to examine the feasibility of providing a supply using an alternative groundwater source. The council, after obtaining expert advice, will provide the Department with an initial assessment on the feasibility of doing this in the coming weeks.

Of course, the more sustainable long-term solution for the supply appears to be its interconnection to the public network and taking in charge.

To progress this, the council submitted a connection application to Irish Water on 4 May last. Given the public health concerns with the supply and following the Deputy's representations, the Department separately requested Irish Water to prioritise the request. The Department will continue to engage with the council on the matter of this supply and it will be providing my Department with regular updates on progress.

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