Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I do not think Kildare is a forgotten county, but the Deputy is well within his rights to represent the different areas. He is well aware of the different geographical areas in Kildare experiencing difficulties at the moment. This response is quite detailed, and I hope it gives him some comfort. If it does not, I ask the Deputy to come back to me and we will seek further detail.

The Deputy will appreciate that the operation of the public water supply, together with operational issues locally are matters for Uisce Eireann, which has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. Under section 7 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013, neither I, as Minister of State, nor my Department has an operational function in the matter to which the Deputy refers.

However, I have made some inquiries and am informed that there are operational challenges in Celbridge, including Hazelhatch, with the water network under pressure. Uisce Éireann has water mains rehab works approved for design and construction in 2025. The works involve 5.3 km of water mains. Site investigation works are planned in the coming weeks and construction is due to commence in quarter 2 of this year. These works will help address the water network challenges in Celbridge. Turning to Allenwood, Uisce Éireann is carrying out leakage reduction works to provide a more reliable water supply and reduce high levels of leakage. The works involve the replacement of more than 3.7 km of problematic water mains with new modern pipes. The works commenced in November 2024 with more than 1.3 km replaced to date. These works are being carried out as part of Uisce Éireann’s national leakage reduction programme. The works also involve laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers’ property boundaries and connecting it to the customers’ water supply. The works are expected to be completed by Summer 2025.

In Leixlip, phase two of €20 million upgrade works are complete at the Leixlip water treatment plant. This plant has now commenced a third investment phase worth €30 million, aimed at increasing the resilience and capacity of Ireland's second largest water treatment facility, which is programmed to take three years to complete.

I turn to Ballymore Eustace to Saggart pipeline critical repairs. In August 2024, Uisce Éireann successfully completed critical and complex repairs to a major trunk water main that connects Ballymore Eustace water treatment plant and the Saggart reservoir to safeguard water supply to 1.7 million customers in the greater Dublin area. In terms of other mains repairs, works took place on 31 March in Rickardstown, Newbridge and surrounding areas in County Kildare, and mains repair works are scheduled to take place today to Oakfield Heights, Oakfield Park, Oakglade, Hazelmere, Naas and surrounding areas in County Kildare, which may cause supply disruption.

I will come back on more, but that is a pretty detailed response. I appreciate it may not cover every single area the Deputy brought up. If there are outstanding issues the Deputy wants me to raise with Uisce Éireann directly, I am all ears.

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