Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)

I want to raise an issue that is having an impact on many of us on both sides of the House but is manifesting quite acutely in my town of Swords. I refer to the deteriorating nature of the public engagement on the part of Irish Water with public representatives, both local and national. At Swords wastewater treatment plant, intermittent outages are impacting a lot of residents and Fingallian's GAA club. I have been trying to engage with Irish Water but I have not been getting answers. I have been trying to get an on-site meeting for six months. I was told that the company does not do such meetings, even though I have attended two over the past ten years. It does not do the reputation of Irish Water any good. We are solutions focused in trying to solve these problems. Will the Taoiseach to engage with Irish Water and bring his powers to bear in order to ensure that it re-engage with local politicians in order to help us solve issues and allow us to communicate effectively with our constituents?

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