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

I thank the Minister of State for attending. This is the fourth time I have raised a Topical Issue matter on boil water notices in east Cork. Many Deputies are lucky to be able to raise four Topical Issue matters in one year.

I want to paint a picture by referring to recent newspaper headlines, including in theIrish Examiner: "Urgent boil water notice issued for Whitegate area of Cork after 'inadequate disinfection' at plant" is a headline from February 2020. The headline, "Numbers affected by long-term by boilwater notices double by year's end", appeared in May 2022, while the headline, "Thousands affected by new boil water notice", appeared in October 2022. These refer only to the Whitegate area in east Cork. Another piece - I believe it was in corkbeo.ie- was headlined "'It’s horrendous’: Cork villagers count the cost of creaky water system".

That was in October 2022 in Killavullen in north Cork. The areas I am talking about here are Aghada, Churchtown, Ballycotton, Saleen, Shanagarry, Ballinacurra and areas of Cloyne. It is nearly from Whitegate oil refinery all the way over towards Youghal. It is a very rural area.

Every time there has been a boil water notice in east Cork, I have been on to Irish Water. I remember one particular letter I received, which definitely came from an elderly person. It came in an envelope but the letter was written on the back of another envelope inside it. It is was pleading with me to get Irish Water to sort this out because it was costing them an awful lot of money. In Churchtown, which is a very rural area, there is a very large care home. It costs a lot of money to go to the shops to buy water. While others were speaking earlier, a woman has already been on to me to say that this will be her second Christmas having to boil water. I have asked Irish Water to put in tankers or at least have something. If it has a duty to supply proper drinking water and is responsible for the quality of water in the area, surely it can supply something that would not be at a cost to the people who use these services. The frustration there is very clear. A family were in touch with me with a young autistic child who cannot fathom how they are supposed to take a bottle of water into the bathroom in the morning when they go to brush their teeth. It is taking normality out of some families' lives.

I think this has been ongoing for nearly three years. Some 9,500 people - the bones of 10,000 people - are affected. Every time we go to Irish Water, we are told it is a question of turbidity in the water. It has had three to four years to build a higher wall around this plant. I know it is working on a plant but the worrying thing is that it does not seem to be forward planning for capacity issues. East Cork probably has the fasting growing population in the country. It is a disgrace that Irish Water is putting a treatment plant in White Bay. It is called White Bay for a reason; because it is a beautiful white beach. The treatment plant that it is putting there certainly will not meet future capacity and will not put clean water back into the bay. It is really frustrating.

I speak on behalf of the people I represent in east Cork. I will not use choice words but the Minister of State will know what I would like to say in here: they are very something-ed off about it. It is very frustrating for me as a public representative to have to come in here and make the case to a Minister of State because Irish Water will not engage. When it does, it is dismissive. The least it can do is to supply free drinking water to the nearly 10,000 residents in east Cork, and those in Killavullen in north Cork, so that they can have some bit of normality. Things are getting very expensive here and to have the added stress of going to draw water is just driving people mad.

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