James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to acknowledge the passing of former Cork East Deputy, Gerard Cott, who served as a Member of the House from 1969 until 1973. Our sympathies are with his family and the community in Midleton C.B.S. Secondary School, where he served as a member of staff for a number of years. We have been thinking of them in the past few days.

I wish to raise a critically-important issue in the constituency I represent. It is a huge problem around the Cork Harbour area, where there are ongoing problems in relation to water supply. It is particularly acute in the Whitegate community. At the moment, approximately 9,000 consumers of water in that area have been continuously affected over several years. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be going away. In east Cork, from a topography and geology perspective, there is an ongoing issue with rainfall, which has a knock-on consequence on drainage and water quality. Due to the make up of the geology in the area, substantial rainfall is not good from a water quality perspective, as has occurred in the last few years. The particular issue that occurred this time around seems to be persisting for much longer than others, which is a huge concern. Undoubtedly, water quality testing has improved in recent years, but what has not is Irish Water's desire to solve this problem for those affected. Fair is fair for families affected by continuous water outages and boil water notices in these areas. The State is not doing enough to support them with the supply of fresh water. I spoke to one constituent who told me she reckons it costs her and her family to the tune of €70 or €80 a week to supply clean drinking water and in ongoing needs to support her household with clean water into the home. More needs to be done, such as fresh bottled water being supplied to the affected households until such time that Irish Water can deal with these outstanding issues.

There is a plan in motion but, like everything else when it comes to how rapidly we can build infrastructure in Ireland, the pace of delivery is not sufficient. We are over the worst of it with Covid; it is out of the way now. It is no longer a relevant excuse when it comes to the delivery of infrastructure. There is a substantial need for this to be addressed. I am not the only Deputy from the constituency to raise this topic - others in Government and in Opposition have been doing so too. There is huge urgency. The families in affected areas such as Whitegate, Aghada, Churchtown, Ballycotton, Saleen, Shanagarry, Ballinacurra and some areas of Cloyne, are livid - they are right to be - because they feel ignored. I want the Department to work with Irish Water to put on pressure. Irish Water as an entity was set up to try to deal with these issues, but I feel, as has been raised previously, that the shutters are pulled down on Deputies who would like these matters to be resolved. I acknowledge that a lot of housing construction is going on and there must be some degree of prioritisation to provide serviced land, such as wastewater treatment, fresh and drinking water capacity for new developments. For many rural communities, including many in my constituency, it is hard to get Irish Water to act on time and in proper order. I beg the Government to try to address the issue. I would like to be able to go back to the doors when the general election occurs to say that we have made movement in a positive direction, brought the plans that are in place forward as rapidly and efficiently as possible, so that people and families in the areas affected get the service from the Government and Irish Water that they deserve.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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On behalf of the Government, I extend my sympathies to the family and friends of former Deputy Cott on this occasion.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of providing safe drinking water in east Cork, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Safe and secure drinking water is an issue of both national and local importance. I appreciate the Deputy’s concerns for the communities in Whitegate, County Cork and the surrounding areas affected by the boil water notice. The Deputy will appreciate that the operation of Whitegate regional public water supply is a matter for Uisce Éireann, which, since 1 January 2014, has had statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. In turn, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, as environmental regulator, is responsible for setting quality standards and enforcing compliance with EU directives and national regulations for the provision of drinking water. The Minister has made inquiries with Uisce Éireann; I understand that the boil water notice currently in place for the Whitegate public water supply was issued following consultation between Uisce Éireann, Cork County Council and the Health Service Executive. Uisce Éireann is pursuing a permanent solution to address the frequent boil water notices the people of East Cork have experienced over the last number of years. This involves a major upgrade of the water treatment plant. A contractor has been appointed to undertake the design and construction, land has been acquired and a planning application was submitted by Uisce Éireann in January 2023.

Planning permission was approved by Cork County Council in May 2023. However, appeals of that decision have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála.

The proposed works will include a new coagulation, flocculation and clarification system, a new filtration system and a new disinfection system. Significant upgrades will also be made to other aspects of the Kilva water treatment plant site.

The EPA will ensure that the new plant meets all applicable standards before this supply is removed from the EPA's remedial action list.

The Department's priority is to ensure that people's health is protected and that adequate water is available for all consumers. We all want to see this notice lifted without undue delay, but only when the HSE and the EPA have confirmed that the water supply is safe.

Additional information and advice relating to boil water notices are available on Uisce Éireann's website, water.ie, or by calling Uisce Éireann's 24-hour customer care line on 1850 278 278.

As part of budget 2023, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, secured funding of over €1.65 billion to support water services. That included €1.56 billion in respect of domestic water services provision by Uisce Éireann. This overall investment will deliver significant improvements in our public water and wastewater services, support improved water supplies right across Ireland, including in rural Ireland, and support a range of programmes delivering improved water quality in our rivers, lakes and marine area. This will make a significant contribution to addressing Ireland's needs.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Minister of State's response. I ask him to bring the points that have been raised back to the Minister. That would be appreciated.

It comes down to this: it is about the scale of time it will take to get to a point at which this will no longer be an issue unless there is drastic rainfall. As I said, these outages are becoming more frequent. They are lasting much longer than in the past. I want to find an equitable and fair solution to support the communities this has affected. Irish Water needs to provide fresh bottled water services in those areas and work directly with the communities on the ground. I accept that Irish Water is independent of the Government, but Uisce Éireann, Irish Water, needs to do more. This is not an unreasonable request. I hope the Minister will refer it back to Uisce Éireann. If this were in any constituency, I could see the difficulty it would cause other Deputies. As a Government TD in the area, I am quite uncomfortable with the length of time it is taking for this to be dealt with. We need to see these things being done prudently. This impacts and has a huge consequence for households who do not have the provision of a safe water supply into the home, particularly families who may be caring for vulnerable people, elderly people, young children and people trying to raise families and who do not have that supply of fresh drinking water that is safe to consume while going through all the difficulty of the boil water notice over such a long period. It must be understood that for the 9,000 households this is affecting, that is an enormous area. The geographical scale of this is very significant because it covers a huge number of villages in the southern part of my constituency. I just want to see from the Government the same level of urgency that would be shown if such an issue were to occur in somewhere like Dublin.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I can hear in the Deputy's voice his sincerity and his wish to have this problem resolved. It is a very basic thing to have a clean supply of drinking water. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, acknowledges the patience and co-operation of the residents and businesses in the Whitegate area who have been affected up to now. As I said in my opening remarks, the Minister's concern is to ensure that people's health is protected. The Minister wants to see this notice lifted without any undue delay but, of course, only when the water supply is again safe to drink. Uisce Éireann is working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure that happens as quickly as possible. Uisce Éireann's primary function is to provide clean, safe drinking water to customers and to treat wastewater and return water safely to the environment. In providing these critical services Uisce Éireann plays a role in enabling social and economic growth, protecting the environment as well as the health and safety of the public.

Uisce Éireann, as a single national utility, is taking a strategic and nationwide approach to asset planning and investment and meeting customer requirements. Our entire water system needs substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles to improve performance and resilience fully. Investment will also need to deliver on new water capacity for our growing population and to deal with the increasing impacts of climate change. Prioritising the order of this work and the associated investment will need ongoing engagement between Uisce Éireann and the regulators - the EPA and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities - to ensure an effective and efficient delivery of necessary water quality outcomes and to improve overall water system resilience.

Finally, I should note that Uisce Éireann has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. The team can be contacted by email or telephone.

I absolutely agree with the Deputy that no Deputy in this House in his position would not passionately represent their constituents, the people living in their area who are unable to access water or who are forced into paying every week to access something which is an absolute necessity for life. I therefore concur absolutely with him. I will bring his comments to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.