Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will, and I genuinely thank the Minister of State for his compassion, but the reason I am saying this and bringing this true story to the House is that this is replicated in many other cases right around the county. This woman has water but may as well have none because she would be ten times better off going outside her back door or her front door, bringing in gallons of water and putting it into the attic in the first place in order that she can have a functioning shower.

Going back to a lot of the commentary all day, and I do not know how much time I have left, a Cheann Comhairle, I have spoken in this House at least twice in recent times about the deficits in Irish Water's investment in infrastructure, wastewater and water supply. There are many cases and many villages - I will not repeat what I said two weeks ago - that are ripe for developing. We do not have investment by Irish Water to provide sewage treatment facilities in order that those communities can grow.

On a bigger scale, however, and this is really concerning, is an executive summary by An Taisce with regard to the deficits in wastewater in our city. I have it with me, not that anyone wants to hear about it or see it. Of course, most people from east Galway who have a job commute into the city for that purpose. In 2007, An Taisce established that one of three pipes, the larger of the three, was ultimately taking the water from east of the city and Oranmore across to Mutton Island. For those people who would not understand the geography, Mutton Island is just off the coast of Galway. An Taisce discovered that the larger of the pipes was at risk of collapsing. That was in 2007, and here we are today in 2025, when there is a greater demand and, one might say, greater pressure in terms of what has to be transported from the city across. There is an acknowledgment there. An Taisce has said this; it is public knowledge. Really and truly, whether one is in east Galway or in Galway city or anywhere else on the island of Ireland, there are chronic deficits that need to be bridged. From where I am standing and as I have said before, most of the haemorrhaging in terms of providing housing is because of the lack of that basic infrastructure.

Who funds Irish Water? That is the question that needs to be asked. Has it done an inventory as to what is required county by county to service the current and projected housing needs in our county? I am not so sure that exercise would be available to us if Irish Water were asked for it. Until such time as we have an inventory of what is underground, whether it be malfunctioning, defective or in need of repair, and the projected numbers with regard to housing delivery, we will not really be able to forecast how many people we have to make provision for in terms of housing for the future.

I do not envy the Minister of State his job at all. There have been a lot of concerns and there has been a lot of criticism with regard to Irish Water and the deficits and maybe the deficiencies within what it is doing and providing. As I said earlier, however, I have had some lovely experiences where I got an immediate response from the guys on the ground. However, sending an email to Irish Water HQ and expecting a speedy response is a horse of a different colour entirely. You will not be afforded the dignity or the privilege of getting that.

That is pretty much it. I do not want to add any more to that. An awful lot of contributions have been made all day long. The first story I told the Minister of State was a real one. The second one is a real county crisis and a county pressure. That information I share with him comes from a reputable source and is beyond dispute.

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