Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

Members go in and out of the Chamber turning their mobile phones on and off. These things happen and I apologise.

I commend my colleagues, especially Deputy O'Rourke, on the work they have done on this Bill. Deputy O'Rourke saw a problem and is putting forward solutions. When the Government created Uisce Éireann, it built a company that was so allergic to transparency and accountability it is like a fortress. It is impossible sometimes to get information from it. It takes months to get answers to basic questions. It refused to properly communicate with this Bill. That is the whole point of this - communication is vital when it comes to the supply of water, particularly when there are water outages or when water is not safe to drink. This has a particular impact on vulnerable people. Uisce Éireann says it has a register of vulnerable customers, but it does not communicate with them properly. I asked it once about a constituent of mine who has limited sight and other people who are blind and live in my constituency. Uisce Éireann told me to get them to ask their friends and family to fill a jug of water and put it in the fridge for them. That is not a response. How is Uisce Éireann protecting vulnerable people with that? Must those vulnerable people always wait for neighbours, family or friends to come around?

I know Deputies O'Rourke and Guirke have had huge issues in their constituencies with water outages and subsequent problems with communication. I have had the same problems myself. We have a huge problem in Cork with brown, dirty and unsafe water. Uisce Éireann is failing to communicate. What this Bill would do is it would safeguard and protect people when it comes to having clean drinking water. Sinn Féin is also hoping that this Bill would put communication at the heart of Uisce Éireann's job.

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