Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

Normally, I welcome investment. They keep telling us there is a lot of investment. There is investment, but normally investment improves the situation. The investment here has done awful damage to the situation. We hear the buzzwords "resilient" and "continuous supply" but it is not resilient. We have had resilient supplies for generations at Poulavanogue - a gravity supply. Now, they must turn around and pump the water back up there. That does not make sense at all. I told the Minister of State we need 220 cu. m per hour and that has been restricted because we moved the 10 in. pipe. They put a 4 in. pipe into a housing estate in County Waterford, Kilmacomma, and they tapped it, which means that it cannot be used any more in an emergency. The hospital was never without water until two weeks ago. Imagine our hospital having to get in tankers. Business are crippled with enough charges and they need a supply of water. They are paying dearly for water in and water out.

This is the situation. There is no Minister. He has no responsibility. It is the EPA and the HSE. The HSE is another body that is unfit for purpose. The EPA has set the standards too high. The problem is mechanisation and computerisation of the plants. No physical persons are going out there when we have heavy downpours of rain and cleaning the screens, which they always did. I refer to Mr. Hartigan, the late P.J. Cullinan and Joe Carrigan, who is still with us. Many other people went out and cleaned the sieves and the water went. Now we are waiting for a computer to send a message to somebody who may or may not answer his phone. The workers are fatigued and disgusted. The Minister is trying to move them over to Irish Water. There are good workers and excellent county council staff over the country. We could not have better in south Tipperary than the team of people we have. They are being bullied to go into a company in which they no faith. They are ashamed to drive the vans with the names on the side of them. That is what they tell me. They have no intention of going to Irish Water. We will have a worse situation when their expertise, knowledge and capability to fix the mains and look after the network is gone. We are going from bad to worse unless someone takes a hold of this. We will lose jobs and business people. People's health is being damaged, including their mental health, because they have no water and then they have dirty water.

See this speech in context