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

The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien sends apologies and has asked me to attend this evening in his place to address this important issue in County Mayo. I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for raising this issue and for allowing me the opportunity to outline the position regarding public water in Clare Island, and group water schemes in Mayo.

As the Deputy will understand, the supply of public water and the provision of water services in general are matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. However, the Department has made inquiries with Uisce Éireann on the issues mentioned, and we are informed as follows. A boil water notice on the Clare Island water supply was lifted on 5 October and normal use of the water supply could resume. The notice, which was issued in June, was put in place to protect the health of customers on the island following the detection of cryptosporidium in the water supply. Drinking water experts from Uisce Éireann worked to lift the notice as quickly and safely as possible, and following satisfactory water samples over 18 weeks the boil water notice was lifted. Meanwhile, works are progressing to upgrade the island’s water treatment plant.

There was also a recent disruption in water supply to the island, which lasted for a couple of days. Uisce Éireann has subsequently become aware that the disruption to individual premises lasted for longer, up to ten days for some. This can occur after a return of supply to a network where there may be issues with individual connections. I am informed that Uisce Éireann sincerely regrets the impact this had on these customers. Certain parts of the island can be affected intermittently with water outages due to a lack of storage to supply parts of the island.

With regard to the proposed water treatment plant upgrade, as part of Uisce Éireann’s commitment to ensuring all customers have no disruption to their water supply, a number of projects are being finalised for Clare Island. Group water schemes are community-owned and community-run enterprises. Local authorities, including Mayo County Council, are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the rural water programme while the Minister is responsible for policy. Significant capital and operational financial support is being provided to schemes under the rural water programme. The Department understands that Mayo County Council is not aware of any group water schemes with supply disruption issues in recent weeks.

See this speech in context