Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a real problem here, and we need to take a grip of it, first with regard to Uisce Éireann and the local authorities. I do not think that people would accept it, nor would the Minister, if there was an area here in Dublin without water and having water outages as often as these communities do, particularly the one we are talking about here tonight, Clare Island, and also with regard to Sáile and what needs to be done. There is a disconnect somewhere where the Government will say that there is sufficient funding allocated yet the group water schemes are left in this situation.

If one were to say to local communities here in Dublin that it is up to themselves to supply their own water, they would not accept that either. The group water schemes seem to be the ones that are left like the poor relation. They have to be sorted out. Once they are sorted out, they will be sorted out. One sees where the authorities say that the pipes are not wide enough in Sáile in Achill for them to be taken over. It is just not good enough for people to be passed from Billy to Jack and back and over, and things not to be sorted out.

The people in Clare Island want to know when will those works be started and when will they be completed, not that they are in the pipeline or that they will be done at some time in the future. People need certainty about a water supply. They need a guaranteed water supply. People cannot live without a water supply. Without a water supply, they cannot live in Dublin and they cannot live in Clare Ireland, Achill Island or all of the other communities in Mayo as well.

I am asking if the Minister would meet Irish Water and tell its representative that the group water schemes are just as important as any other water scheme or water supply in the rest of the country, and we cannot be left behind all of the time, which is what is happening at present.

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