Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I can imagine how frustrating this process has been for the people of Clogh and Moneenroe, as well as for the Deputy, as a public representative for the area. Obviously, the Minister is unable to be here and I am offering this response in his place. 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, as Deputy McGuinness outlined. However, officials in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage have made inquiries with Uisce Éireann on the issues raised and I am informed as follows. Uisce Éireann operates the Clogh-Castlecomer public water supply in County Kilkenny, which serves approximately 3,300 customers. There have been ongoing issues with this supply for a number of years, compounded by several factors, including an old system, a poor water source and elevated manganese levels, all of which the Deputy has accepted. The latter occurs naturally in some water sources and some exceedances can arise from naturally occurring high levels at source.

Following consultation with the HSE, Uisce Éireann issued a boil water notice at this supply on 27 February 2023, one year ago, due to increased turbidity impacting the treatment processes at the water treatment plant. At all times, Uisce Éireann’s number one priority is the protection of public health. Extensive works were carried out at the plant to ensure the boil water notice could be lifted. This was made challenging due to several problems experienced when raw water levels dropped due to high usage and there was a reduction in the amount of available raw water. The boil water notice at the Clogh-Castlecomer public water supply was lifted on 1 July 2023 following the completion of remedial measures and the receipt of satisfactory monitoring results.

Uisce Éireann is working hard to make further progress and intends to continue its investment in this water supply scheme. Since the boil water notice was lifted, a number of improvement works have been completed at the plant, including a thorough cleaning and flushing of the pipework within the plant, ongoing flushing of the water network, the introduction of a new filtration system for treatment in the plant and changes to the filter media and the water treatment process in the plant. In addition to these measures, Uisce Éireann intends to carry out further short-term actions, including the replacement and upgrade of the filter media and cleaning of the river adjacent to the filtration gallery.

In the medium term, Uisce Éireann is progressing a project to make further improvements to the treatment plant within the next one to four years as an interim measure prior to the delivery of a long-term solution. A contractor has been appointed to design and construct works at the existing treatment plant. In the longer term, Uisce Éireann acknowledges the limitations of the existing water treatment plant infrastructure and is pursuing a permanent solution to address the issue. A major new project is required to resolve the historic and ongoing challenges on the scheme with regard to water quantity and quality. This project is being progressed with the completion of a preliminary report for a new water source and a new treatment plant. This is currently being reviewed. It is expected to take a number of years to progress through the relevant statutory and regulatory processes, which include engineering, hydrological, planning, environmental and procurement.

I understand this response will not satisfy the Deputy in terms of the timelines that he and the people of Clogh and Moneenroe, County Kilkenny are seeking but I will bring back to the Minister the points he has raised and continue to keep the pressure on for a speedy resolution to the issue and a speedy delivery of the medium to longer term solution that is needed.

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