Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)

I know the Taoiseach will reject the claim that rural Ireland is being left behind by his Government but many residents of the village of Ballyhooly in my constituency beg to differ. They have good reason to. The very basic need for a consistent supply of water to drink, bathe in or use in appliances such as dishwashers and showers has been denied to them for many years. Residents in Ballyhooly have to deal with extremely low water pressure alternating with a non-existent supply of water for prolonged periods. This has hit people with chronic illness, disability and age-related care needs the hardest. It has also severely impacted the local school and farming community. In recent months, there has been a reprieve from a full-scale outage but water pressure remains very low and there is no clear timeframe on the extent of works required to resolve the issue. Short-term fixes will no longer cut it for Ballyhooly. When are we going to see movement on this essential project that will allow the village to thrive?

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