Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I do not think anyone can deny that the current state of the electricity grid, our drinking water supply and the wastewater network is a constraint on housing delivery. These issues are also inflicting misery on many areas afflicted by frequent water mains failures or boil water notices. One area in my constituency - Knocklyon - has been hit with almost 30 outages in the past three years. There is clearly something wrong. Over the Easter bank holiday, residents in Dargle Wood were left without water for four days as Irish Water struggled to repair the damage after a water main failed on the Saturday. Those residents were left without water until the Tuesday. At least two other water mains have burst since then further up the line, so there is clearly a problem. It is all confined to a particular area and the local residents are beyond frustrated with the lack of attention or resolution to their difficulties. Many of the residents blame this problem on a development on what was known as Cosgrave's land, an area named after the former Taoiseach. Hundreds of apartments were built in the neighbouring area and it seems the original water structure is not able to cope with the added demand and required pressure. I ask the Minister to make inquiries to see if anything can be done in this regard.

Before I finish, I recall what the tradition was years ago. When there is a sewage problem now, it is the people at the end of the mains who are caught out. They are the ones who have to collect the money off the other residents in this regard. Traditionally, it would have been the council's job to do it. I ask the Minister to again look at this aspect. That old system was one that worked. The council collected the money and charged the residents. It worked in the past, but the system is not working now. Unfortunately, the people at the end of the pipeline are those who have to suffer.

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