Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Ceann Comhairle well. I am glad to see him back. The last time I had an opportunity to speak about water was in September when we discussed the Water Services (Amendment) Bill. Some of what I said then is worthy of repeating. My speech then concerned the Bill involving the change of the name of Irish Water to Uisce Éireann and all of the associated amendments required to reflect this change across lots of different laws. Quite frankly, I do not think anybody - constituents in any town or village, particularly in County Wexford - gives a damn what the organisation is called because on numerous occasions over the past few years, people have been more worried about contracting some sort of illness as a result of drinking water provided by service providers when they have water. They want a useable service that does not require them to have a boil water notice for a few weeks every winter or where they have a ration of water once we have a few dry weather days. Wexford town and the surrounding area are under a boil water notice. Around the same time last year, we had the same thing. A statement was released on Monday updating customers. I will read part of it. It states:

Irish Water would like to remind customers served by the Wexford Town Water Supply that a Boil Water Notice remains in place. The notice, which was issued following consultation with the HSE on 2 November, is in place to protect the health of approximately 25,000 customers. It was issued due to a decline in the quality of the raw water entering the treatment plant which resulted in the detection of giardia. Continuing issues with poor water quality have increased the turbidity at the plant which can impact the disinfection process. Areas impacted by the Boil Water Notice include Wexford Town, Taghmon and surrounding areas.

The notice went on to say:

Our drinking water compliance and operational experts are working with colleagues in Wexford County Council to resolve the situation with a view to having the notice lifted as quickly as possible. As these remedial works are carried out over the coming days, some customers may experience localised interruptions or loss of pressure but these should only last a short time and normal pressure should return quickly. In the meantime, all customers of this supply are advised to continue to boil water before use until further notice. Irish Water Operations Lead, Catherine McDonough, has acknowledged the impact the Boil Water Notice is having on the community and regrets the inconvenience to customers.

"Public health is Irish Water’s number one priority, and we would like to assure customers that the notice has been put in place to protect public health. We acknowledge the inconvenience caused to homes and businesses and would like to assure customers that we will lift the notice as quickly and as safely as possible, in consultation with the HSE."

This was on a bank holiday weekend when Wexford was hosting the international opera festival. A major omission from this statement from Irish Water is the lack of any commitment to actually prevent the problem from happening again. Irish Water has assured customers that the notice has been put in place to protect them but I would imagine that a reliable service being put in place would be a far greater assurance. Similar sentiments were echoed by Wexford County Council's director of services, who was quoted in the local newspaper:

I'm told that Irish Water hope to appoint a contractor to carry out work on the Newtown Road Treatment plant by Christmas. Work will then begin early next year. I'd imagine it would be a twelve month process at least. It could even run into the following year (2024), but hopefully we can prioritise the most urgent work so that we can eliminate the need for boil water notices. Of course, I wish things would happen quicker, but there are certain processes that Irish Water has to go through.

As I said in September, the practice of mending a pump here or a pipe there is obviously necessary to restore services quickly, but it is only placing a sticking plaster over the serious issues with our water infrastructure. As the director of services, Mr. Hore, said, "there are certain processes that Irish Water has to go through", but the Government must look hard at where these processes can be simplified and carried out faster so that more progress can be made in a shorter time. Most importantly, however, it must be ensured that the system is resourced properly.

The Water Advisory Board, WAB, has not yet published its quarterly report for quarter 3 of 2022. It is worth reminding ourselves that in its last quarterly report, it highlighted several ongoing problems with Irish Water, such as the fact that 21 areas were under a boil water notice in the second quarter of this year and 20 of these areas remained under the notice for more than 30 days. It shows as well that Irish Water's five-day response rate for complaints was the lowest since reporting began in 2018. Why do we have quarterly reports if they are not quarterly or produced on time? Seriously, we must nip this in the bud now.

I will be interested to see what the reports for quarters 3 and 4 will contain to establish whether these problems are getting worse or better. If these reports are not produced on time, confidence in the system just dwindles. The recent EPA report from 14 October is very concerning. I understand that no system is perfect all the time and that problems will arise, but, unfortunately, they are happening too frequently for many of my constituents in County Wexford. In this regard, I commend the ground staff in the New Ross municipal district area and Wexford County Council in Wexford. I am pleased to say that funding has been sanctioned to provide up to 4 km of brand-new polythene piping infrastructure, alongside upgrading the capacity at reservoirs in my local area of Ballycullane and Taylorstown. It is the right thing to do. First, the completion of 1.6 km is expected by the end of February 2023. The remaining 2.5 km should then be ready to commence. In the summer of 2023, the Ring of Hook area in south-west Wexford should be a much better place in respect of its water supply and infrastructure than it was in the summer just gone.

Excuse me, I did not realise I was out of time. I look forward to there being one entity because I think there is too much passing of the buck at the moment. When we have one entity dealing with this area, then we will have accountability.

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