Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)

This matter relates to issues that the communities in Mahon and Blackrock in the south-east of Cork city are experiencing. Fundamentally, the answers people are looking for is how and when the problem that exists is going to be fixed. They have not received such answers. When a resolution will be found is not something the communities in question have a sense of at this point.

The main issue is a foul odour that can be smelled in the open air. This has been the case for four weeks. The odour is legitimately and correctly being linked to sewage issues. However, residents can also smell it from their sinks and toilets. It is not so much that there is matter emerging; it is the odour itself. People are quite reasonably concerned about the health implications of this for them and the community in general. Unfortunately, this is not the first sewage-related issue in that part of the city. Not far away on Monahan Road, there were issues regarding a sewage overflow near the marina earlier this year. The Minister of State may have heard about that.

I have been in contact with Irish Water a number of times over the past couple of weeks. The most recent response I received referred to early contractor involvement, ECI, works going on at Atlantic Pond and Ballinure to upgrade the pumping stations there. Part of these works include septicity dosing at Atlantic Pond due to the low flows and high temperature in the network during the summer months. That was basically the nature of the update I received. The concerns that exist seem to relate to the Mahon pumping station and possibly one other station.

In response to the update I received two weeks ago, I made further inquiries. I have not yet receive a reply.. The fundamental questions people are asking are as follows. First, is the explanation I received satisfactory? I am not sure that it is. The community is not convinced that it is. Would septicity explain the foul smell? If so, how does the relevant process work? More crucially, when will the dosing be concluded and when can the smell be expected to be gone? When is this matter going to be brought to a conclusion?

There has not been any communication about this matter. Irish Water has merely told us that it is trying to address it. In the almost two weeks since I submitted my questions, I have not received any clarification on the issues raised. To be totally frank, from speaking to former employees of Cork City Council and people who would have worked in the water section there, their contention is that the pumping stations are operating above capacity. They indicate that new connections have been added that the pumping stations were not built to accommodate and that the level of maintenance and checks carried out at these locations is not what it would have been four or five years ago. In other words, these pumping stations are not receiving the attention they would have received in the past.

We need to get to the bottom of this. What the people of Mahon, Blackrock, Ballintemple and the surrounding areas are looking for is a clear sense of how this is going to be fixed and when it is going to end. It needs to end. There are questions as to whether there are implications for public health. People have reasonable concerns in that regard. They need to know that this is going to be brought to a conclusion.

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