Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter for her constituents in Castlecomer. The Deputy and Councillor Michael Doyle have been working on this issue of greater water capacity in Castelcomer and the wider area so I thank them for that. Uisce Éireann can confirm, as the Deputy and her constituents know, that there are supply and demand issues on the Castelcomer water supply zone. This has resulted in supply disruption impacting customers at times when supply does not meet demand. I understand over the summer months Uisce Éireann took measures to maintain everyday daytime supplies through interventions such as tanking to reservoirs. The long story short, though, is we have given a hell of a lot more money to Uisce Éireann. It needs to get on with it now. We in this House need to empower it to get on with it. There is too much bureaucracy, too much red tape, too many processes and even when we allocate the money, it is still taking too long to deliver it. That is why we have set up an accelerating infrastructure delivery task force. It is why I campaigned with the Deputy in the election on the need for a Department of infrastructure. It is not just about counting the money any more; it is about driving delivery. We will have proposals from the Government on how we can bust through some of that bureaucracy in the coming weeks. I think the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will support that. We will look forward to having a chance to debate that. There is too much critical infrastructure, and there are not too many things more critical than water, that is taking too long to deliver. I will keep in touch with the Deputy on Castlecomer in that context.

See this speech in context