Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is obviously a really important issue for the people he represents and it must be very frustrating for them. The Deputy will appreciate the supply of public water and the provision of water services in general are, as the Deputy alluded to, matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. The Minister has no function regarding the specific Uisce Éireann’s operations in Adrigole to which the Deputy referred.

To be helpful, the Department has made inquiries to Uisce Éireann on the Deputy's behalf and has been informed that there were 18 bursts recorded in Adrigole between May and 31 October of this year. For unforeseen unplanned outages, it is not possible to provide advance notice to customers. When these occur, Uisce Éireann immediately mobilises repair crews to investigate the source of the burst and works as a matter of priority to repair the water main and restore normal water supply to impacted homes and businesses as quickly as possible. Uisce Éireann does that for exactly the reasons the Deputy outlined because coffee shops, farmers, families and everybody relies on clean, accessible water.

When an unplanned outage occurs and repairs have been undertaken, typically, it takes three to four hours for normal supply to be restored to all customers affected. However, it may take longer for normal supply to be restored to customers at the end of the network or on higher ground as the system recharges. Uisce Éireann has informed the Department that the situation in Adrigole has stabilised since 31 October, and I hope that has been the Deputy's experience and the experience of his constituents. It said there has been a noticeable easing off in the frequency of bursts.

Uisce Éireann has given a commitment to continue to monitor the area, mobilise repair crews promptly and provide updates to elected representatives, including Councillor Danny Collins, and the community as more information becomes available.

Similar to other townlands across the country facing comparable challenges due to weather-related pressures and ageing infrastructure, Uisce Éireann is working through these systematically. The frequency of bursts is taken into consideration when prioritising water main rehabilitation projects. However, they are limited in what can be rehabilitated each year.

A case for mains rehabilitation works for the Adrigole area is currently under consideration by Uisce Éireann. I presume this was one of the suggestions the Deputy mentioned came out of the public meeting he attended. As the process is only in the initial stages, it is too early to confirm a timeframe at this stage. Uisce Éireann has committed to me that it will share further updates with elected representatives and the community in this regard once available.

Our water and wastewater infrastructure requires substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles to bring the systems up to the standards required of a modern service and to provide for population growth and to build resilience in the face of climate change. That is why this year the Government provided record funding to Uisce Éireann under the national development plan to ensure that we continue to prioritise these types of infrastructure upgrades and new developments.

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