James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to acknowledge the passing of former Cork East Deputy, Gerard Cott, who served as a Member of the House from 1969 until 1973. Our sympathies are with his family and the community in Midleton C.B.S. Secondary School, where he served as a member of staff for a number of years. We have been thinking of them in the past few days.

I wish to raise a critically-important issue in the constituency I represent. It is a huge problem around the Cork Harbour area, where there are ongoing problems in relation to water supply. It is particularly acute in the Whitegate community. At the moment, approximately 9,000 consumers of water in that area have been continuously affected over several years. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be going away. In east Cork, from a topography and geology perspective, there is an ongoing issue with rainfall, which has a knock-on consequence on drainage and water quality. Due to the make up of the geology in the area, substantial rainfall is not good from a water quality perspective, as has occurred in the last few years. The particular issue that occurred this time around seems to be persisting for much longer than others, which is a huge concern. Undoubtedly, water quality testing has improved in recent years, but what has not is Irish Water's desire to solve this problem for those affected. Fair is fair for families affected by continuous water outages and boil water notices in these areas. The State is not doing enough to support them with the supply of fresh water. I spoke to one constituent who told me she reckons it costs her and her family to the tune of €70 or €80 a week to supply clean drinking water and in ongoing needs to support her household with clean water into the home. More needs to be done, such as fresh bottled water being supplied to the affected households until such time that Irish Water can deal with these outstanding issues.

There is a plan in motion but, like everything else when it comes to how rapidly we can build infrastructure in Ireland, the pace of delivery is not sufficient. We are over the worst of it with Covid; it is out of the way now. It is no longer a relevant excuse when it comes to the delivery of infrastructure. There is a substantial need for this to be addressed. I am not the only Deputy from the constituency to raise this topic - others in Government and in Opposition have been doing so too. There is huge urgency. The families in affected areas such as Whitegate, Aghada, Churchtown, Ballycotton, Saleen, Shanagarry, Ballinacurra and some areas of Cloyne, are livid - they are right to be - because they feel ignored. I want the Department to work with Irish Water to put on pressure. Irish Water as an entity was set up to try to deal with these issues, but I feel, as has been raised previously, that the shutters are pulled down on Deputies who would like these matters to be resolved. I acknowledge that a lot of housing construction is going on and there must be some degree of prioritisation to provide serviced land, such as wastewater treatment, fresh and drinking water capacity for new developments. For many rural communities, including many in my constituency, it is hard to get Irish Water to act on time and in proper order. I beg the Government to try to address the issue. I would like to be able to go back to the doors when the general election occurs to say that we have made movement in a positive direction, brought the plans that are in place forward as rapidly and efficiently as possible, so that people and families in the areas affected get the service from the Government and Irish Water that they deserve.

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