Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)

I have been going back and forth on this with Uisce Éireann since I was a councillor. I appreciate that it checked the system for an update prior to this coming to the floor, but there is still no update available for the residents, and the residents have now moved it on to the CRU also.

For background, there are six homes in Ellen’s Court in Rush. Arthur Brett was the first to move in on 19 September 2022, and the other residents moved in over the following months. As with all developments, services need to be signed off before the build is completed and residents move in. Mr. Brett was told the day he moved in that there was a slight issue with Uisce Éireann and that the water connection would be worked on in the next couple of weeks and everything would be sorted out.

Mr. Brett reports now there is a hose connection between the adjacent apartment block running into Ellen’s Court, supplying water to the houses in Ellen’s Court. I have pictures of a Qualpex hose pipe coming over the wall between the two developments, which has been a problem because it freezes over in the winter and they had to put lagging on it last year on one occasion. Ellen’s Court is at the end of the water supply line, so its water pressure is low, and the water pressure in the adjacent Lady Cove apartment block is probably even lower, with some of the residents reporting that they cannot take showers from time to time.

In April 2024, a contractor was on site to install meters, and he was surprised to discover that there was no branch connection. No contractor has been on site since, and the residents have no answers as to when the issue will be resolved. There have been two, if not three, cases opened with Uisce Éireann, looking for the case to be resolved – two by me and one by a previous Minister in a previous term of Government.

The residents would like to know why it has taken nearly two and a half years for the estate to be fully and properly connected to water services. Why are the residents’ concerns being ignored and kicked down the line by Uisce Éireann? Why can no one from Uisce Éireann come out to address the problem or meet one of the residents so they can walk through the problem thoroughly? Can we get commitment from Uisce Éireann that someone will come out and engage with the residents to help fix the issue? Can we get a plan to have a proper connection made to the six houses, which, by proxy, would fix the water pressure in the adjacent Lady Cove apartments?

These are not big asks. After nearly two and a half years since the residents moved in, it should be sorted at this stage.

See this speech in context