Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his comments. This is of critical importance because the growth of Galway, which I believe should be done in a sustainable way, cannot happen. The population is not growing at the rate expected because of the failure to remediate defective infrastructure. I heard the Minister of State say he will go back to Irish Water. I wish him good luck because Irish Water has given many responses and has told us at the public accounts committee that what I am raising is wrong and it is telling the Minister of State that it is wrong.

For the purpose of clarity, there are two siphons under the Corrib estuary. I am no expert. I am reading a report and I am no expert on that report but the people on the ground are experts. They have given me a copy of that report, which identifies one of the siphons as in imminent danger of collapse. Surely, that would be very simple to clarify. Either this is referring to another pipe or it is not referring to the siphons; I do not know. I could quote from the report again for the Minister of State but I will not do so. The person went to the public accounts committee and said that was not true but did not use those words. He said there was nothing wrong with the siphons and that it was a local issue. There is an open investigation by the EPA on Irish Water, particularly for Oranmore, but it is all interconnected. It is interconnected with the pumping station. The only live application is an application for the pump station in Merlin Park and that went in a year or two ago. It was then withdrawn on appeal because there was not enough information and it has since been resubmitted.

We are back here now and I am trying to get as much as possible into the four minutes I have, as is the Minister of State. I welcome the time I have been allocated. The information being given by Uisce Éireann is not open and transparent, however. I want to work with Irish Water, and with any Government, if we have the privilege of coming back here, but we cannot do that without an open and honest analysis of what the defects are on the ground and the plan to repair them. If we are spending our time saying this or that is not accurate, that is not one bit helpful for transparency, trust or belief in the system.

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