Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A considerable amount has already been said about how vital water is. That goes without saying. It is not difficult to make such an argument. A fair amount has been said, especially recently, when we have seen flyers from the other side about the return of water charges.

A public service model is all that will be acceptable to the Irish people, so we just need to make sure we get to that point. There can be no possibility of privatisation or water charges. That is utterly unacceptable. That ship has sailed, or at least it should have. I hope the Government now realises that.

The one point made across the lobby that I would agree with relates to the legacy of underinvestment. I do not think anyone will disagree with that because we are all dealing with those issues on a daily basis. The legacy of underinvestment is due to an insufficient amount of assessment and then follow-up in the sense of putting our money where our mouth is. There is an absolute necessity for that.

We know the impact it is having on residential building as well as on existing houses in towns like Dundalk where I live. As well as impacting on future residential developments, there will be an impact on industrial units. Large industrial units in my town have had to develop their own capacity and water infrastructure. I dread to think what that means for the future.

Louth County Council recently engaged with Uisce Éireann on the issue. We have also had a huge issue where I live in Dundalk south, as it is known, with our wastewater system. We do not have adequate capacity. Recently, an Bord Pleanála refused to give permission for a development of 500 houses on the basis of the insufficient capacity. As the Minister of State is aware, in the Haggardstown area, temporary initial water treatment systems are being installed. Residents are opposed to this. It is a significant issue in the sense that it could lead to added costs for housing if developers have to pay for such systems. These are issues that need to be addressed. I ask the Minister of State to address them.

We had flooding issues in the Cooley Peninsula at the end of 2023. Parts of Dundalk were almost flooded because of the inability to get rid of wastewater. This is an issue that requires to be addressed. I have raised the issue here previously in regard to Hackballscross during Storm Éowyn. It took days and weeks to deal with the issue. It always happens when the electricity is cut off that there is a logjam in the system and that must be addressed.

I have spoken many times about the brown water in Dundalk, which relates to manganese. There is a pilot scheme, and I am told there has been progress in terms of finding a solution.

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