Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party) | Oireachtas source

I rise to discuss an issue that is extremely important in my constituency and in the adjoining one, which is the Taoiseach's constituency. It concerns an ongoing problem that I highlighted in 2021 with the help of the investigative journalism of Amy Nolan from The Echo. I refer to the condition of the water supply across the northside of Cork city and now into parts of the county as well. As the Taoiseach is well aware, the connection that was brought from Ballincollig to the old waterworks on the River Lee, which connected to the existing system, had too high a velocity. That started an ongoing problem. The pipes are rusting, breaking and are destroyed. There is a problem with flushing systems. Irish Water has continuously been flushing for the past four years on the northside. People are waking up on the northside of the city not knowing whether they can bathe their children, wash their hands, have a shower or put on a wash and leave. There are elderly and disadvantaged people in this community who are heavily reliant on others to know whether their tap water is brown or is running clear.

Nobody is concerned to address this issue four years after it was originally highlighted. Irish Water has come out with a statement that €500 million needs to be secured for Cork City Council. Working on the basis that the €500 million is provided, it would take 90 years, at the rate the work is being done, to replace the Victorian pipeline in Cork city. What Irish Water has done for the northside of the city is introduce two trunking systems that are continuously pumping out water. There are communities going three or four days without water, with householders unable to run a tap, take a shower, bathe a child or wash bedding. That is unacceptable. It is something we would see in an advertisement for an African charity asking for money to build a well. That is the way the people of the northside are being treated. There are people with pubs and other businesses that are reliant on the mains supply for their ice machines, dishwashers and steam ovens. They do not want know whether they can open their business on a given day because the water supply is not secure. The problem has now moved into a little bit of the southside of Cork city. The dermatology department in Cork University Hospital, CUH, is no longer providing baths for patients because the state of the water cannot be guaranteed. These are patients who attend CUH on a regular basis. It is an absolute scandal.

We have asked continuously about the funding but there is no mention of it in the programme for Government. Where is the €500 million that needs to be secured for the northside? I say respectfully to the Taoiseach that I wonder whether this would be acceptable if it were happening in Turners Cross in his constituency. What is not good enough for the southside certainly should not be good enough for the northside. Yet again, we are being let down by him and his Government.

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