Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

We are told that we are living in the bright, shiny Ireland of the 2020s. Turn on many a tap in Cork city today and you might think that you had been transported back to the 1920s. Why? It is because of what is coming out of those taps. It is brown water, orange water, dirty and discoloured with sediment from the inside of water pipes that are more than 100 years old in some cases. I would reckon myself that a majority of people in Cork city now do not trust their water supply. This problem is not new. It has been going on for two years. Up until yesterday, the Tánaiste had made no criticism of Uisce Éireann. It was like he was auditioning for a role as the quiet man. Yesterday, even he felt compelled to speak out. Here is the thing, Taoiseach. Clean, safe water is a human right and the Government cannot just pass the buck to Uisce Éireann. When will the Government do something real about this?

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