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

I thank the Minister of State. It is important that representations are made from the offices of the Minister of State and-or the Minister to Uisce Éireann in relation to this issue. I say this because the response seems to offer two potential causes for the malodour without necessarily nailing the company's colours to the mast as to whether it is the low water levels and the summer, the septicity, or a mixture of both. I am unclear on that.

Regarding the weather, this issue originated in late August. Obviously, there was good weather then, but we have had periods of rain since and I think there was a smell as recently as two or three days ago. There has been rain in that period now, so I am not sure that dry and hot weather alone is the answer to why the issue exists. It is not clear from the answer today or the correspondence I have received that septicity dosing itself causes malodour. I know it is intended to address malodour, but it is not clear whether it causes the problem itself, either for a short or medium time.

The fundamental issue here is that this problem is continuing. It has still been an issue in the last couple of days and there has been no indication from Uisce Éireann that it is going to be brought to a conclusion. That is the key bit of information we need. We need a timeline for when this issue is going to be resolved. If it is the case that further infrastructure is needed, then I think that needs to be communicated so people have a sense of when interventions like this are going to be needed.

I do think there is a bit of an issue here. Problems have arisen in two nearby areas in the last eight or nine months. Is this a sewerage system in that part of the city that is struggling to cope? That potentially seems to be an issue of capacity but also an issue with maintenance. I have spoken to former contractors who worked for the council in this area and they say the level of checks happening now is not what it should be and is not what it used to be.

The big issue here is the timeline. If the Minister of State can try to get Uisce Éireann to give a timeline of when this problem is going to be resolved, the people of Mahon and Blackrock would appreciate it.

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