Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This Government has been very clear in stating that we need to invest more in our water system and that we need to do more to make sure towns, communities or villages which do not have access to the quality of water that they should get investment first and foremost. We must also ensure that sites are opened up and that in the delivery of housing in particular we have the investment and infrastructure needed to achieve the overall objectives, goals and targets we have set ourselves. For Uisce Éireann, we have set a very clear level of investment. There will be record levels invested in the period from 2021 to this year. There are commitments of almost €6 billion in capital investment, of which over €4.5 billion will be voted Exchequer funding for domestic water services. We are already starting to see the benefit of that. I look at my own constituency in County Meath where for many years we had significant problems with water quality in the towns of Ratoath and Ashbourne and surrounding areas. With €40 million of investment into a new water tower, that issue has been resolved and we are starting to see challenges and problems like that resolved right across the country. What have we said as a Government we will do? We will invest even further. We said very clearly with the review of the NDP which will happen earlier this year that there will be a particular focus on making sure we invest in our infrastructure which very clearly includes our water. We have said very clearly prior to the election and since then that a significant amount of the windfall tax receipts, and also the Apple money, will be spent on investment in our wastewater treatment.

Regarding the storm and the response, I commend every person from the ESB, Uisce Éireann and beyond who responded to an unprecedented incident where we saw tens of thousands of people not just without electricity but also without water and power. What happened in response by Uisce Éireann was that almost 400,000 customers, through backup generation, had their service maintained. A huge amount of work was done to make sure that where possible we could maintain that service. For those who were out of service, it is now the case that service has been restored and it was restored as quickly as possible. What we are looking to do now in Uisce Éireann in particular is to increase the stock of mobile generators because we know these storms are not going to end. Uisce Éireann wants to increase them by an additional 100 generators which will be purchased immediately. On top of that, it is also accelerating its programme to make sites generator-ready. It is not possible to say we will have a generator on-site in every single area but we will ensure if it is needed that those sites are absolutely ready.

I wish to compliment and respond to some of the Deputy's comments. We have quite a number of people working. There are about 3,500 people employed operating some 1,800 water and wastewater treatment plants; 4,100 pumping stations; 2,400 abstraction points; and reservoirs maintaining 90,000 km of pipeline. A huge amount of work is taking place by those in Uisce Éireann. We want to do more, we will do more and we are going to invest significantly so we can expand the infrastructure right across the country.

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