Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Ar an gcéad dul síos, gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle, leis an Rialtas agus le gach éinne eile as an gcabhair a thug siad do dhaoine Chluain Meala cúpla seachtain ó shin when we had a very tragic time in Clonmel. I thank the whole community, the Clonmel school community, An Garda Síochána, all the agencies and all the people in the community and from around the country who rode in in the sense of the meitheal and supported those families. It was really deeply appreciated in the midst of our grief.

Clonmel town has a population of 19,000 and has a very large hinterland. It has fantastic industry. It is a town that is struggling with various issues but that has a strong community. It has a great business community that is doing its best in a very difficult economic climate. The Clonmel Business Network comprises more than 110 businesses - the small and medium businesses that are the backbone of the town's economy. However, the businesses of the town are at their wits' end. They are doing their best to trade despite the rising energy costs but are struggling to manage with an inadequate water supply. This not only affects businesses, but all of the householders, the hospital and anything else you could name as well.

As the Minister of State will know, I raised this matter with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, during the summer and wrote to him about it a number of times. The town has suffered from weekly water outages, boil water notices and low water pressure. It is simply not acceptable in a modern network in modern times. You would think we were in a Third World country. I was in Bosnia and Herzegovina to visit Medjugorje recently. It is a very impoverished place but it has the best of water and broadband at all times. It also has none of the spin we have around here.

These water issues are costing businesses and householders. It is costing businesses thousands in additional costs and lost revenue. There is also the cost of equipment that is destroyed when the water goes off without the business being made aware. They have been forced to close due to the lack of water. Walking up the street in Clonmel, it is daunting to see so many vacant buildings. Businesses that were there for generations are now closed due to lack of business. It is even more depressing over the summer months when businesses close with a sign on the door apologising to customers for closing without notice due to a lack of water. It is a shocking situation. It would be okay if it happened occasionally. People would put up with that but this is ongoing. I salute the hardworking county council workers who are doing their best to keep the water in the pipes. They do a great job and have done over the decades.

It is quite simply unacceptable in modern Ireland that businesses should have to close due to a lack of water not once, but on 40 days since April. There are businesses paying thousands of euro a year to Uisce Éireann for water. They are customers but are left without any supply. No business could operate that way. I do not know how Irish Water is let get away with that. In my business experience, the customer is always right. They are not receiving adequate service and need urgent intervention.

The level of communication from Uisce Éireann over the summer has been appalling and the public representative line is simply not fit for purpose. The public is at a loss to know how we could have had the wettest summer in recent times, yet still have no water in the pipes, the houses or the businesses. It just beggars belief. I have been requesting a meeting with Uisce Éireann management and a visit to the three water treatment plants in Clonmel but have not had that meeting. We had an Oireachtas engagement meeting last week with updates but, in reality, the updates were very poor. We are to wait ten years for a proper supply. Water is to be taken from the River Suir and treated. In the interim, Uisce Éireann is talking about giving us hard water from the Moyle Rovers supply, a bored well. This will destroy the equipment of the rest of the town's householders and businesses because it is full of lime. Uisce Éireann, or Irish Water, has refused to treat it at source. We have very big problems. We have no confidence in Irish Water and want immediate answers.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist tábhachtach seo. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue so that I can answer on behalf of our Department and for outlining the very real concerns he has put forward on behalf of the businesses in Clonmel. It is a town I am very familiar with as a former student of Tipperary Institute on the campus in the town. It is a town that is doing great work to revitalise its town centre, as the Deputy said, and this poses a great challenge to it.

The provision of wastewater and water services in Clonmel is a matter for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. The Uisce Éireann capital programme is fully funded, with almost €1 billion of Exchequer funding available in 2023. Uisce Éireann will have invested €134 million on water and wastewater infrastructure in Tipperary from 2014 to 2024 and estimates that approximately another €136 million will be invested beyond 2024.

My Department has made inquiries and has been advised that Uisce Éireann is monitoring the current Clonmel situation very closely. It has identified a number of projects to rectify many of the issues arising. As the Deputy will understand, these projects are complex in nature and may take some time to deliver. However, in the short term, Uisce Éireann is implementing remedial works for the three water treatment plants that serve Clonmel and its environs that will address deficiencies at the plants. Operational improvements are also being carried out with the installation of a generator with auto-changeover to enable continuous power to the plants in the event of power interruptions and control valves with automatic shutdowns. Uisce Éireann is also undertaking 2 km of water main rehabilitation for the Clonmel network, covering Cashel Street, William Street, Morton Street, Bolton Street, Albert Street and Western Park. Replacing these old pipes with new, modern pipework will improve water quality and supply as well reducing disruptions including low pressure and outages. These works are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

In terms of responding to the business community, Uisce Éireann has rolled out a new text alert system for businesses customers in Tipperary. The aim of this service is to inform business customers of outages, planned and unplanned, as well as drinking water restriction notices, including boil water notices, of a duration of more than four hours. If an issue arises on the network that causes a water outage in an area or affects water quality, businesses who sign up to the service will receive a text alert as soon as Uisce Éireann has assessed the issue and has the necessary information to alert the businesses affected and to let them know for how long they might be without water.

Furthermore, Uisce Éireann has advised that supports are available to business owners who experience issues with their water supply. Any non-domestic business customer who is impacted by a water quality notice will receive a tariff discount on their water supplied charge for the period impacted by the water quality notice. In this case, business customers will receive a 40% rebate on the cost of the supply of water to their businesses for the duration of the water quality notice and this will automatically be applied to their bills. Further information can be found on the business section of Uisce Éireann's website.

I will come back with a supplementary reply. The Deputy has raised very serious concerns but these are being addressed by Uisce Éireann. I know there was a briefing for Tipperary Oireachtas Members on the matter. I understand that Uisce Éireann is making every effort to resolve the issues. Again, we will relay the Deputy's concerns to Uisce Éireann from our Department.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I should have thanked the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue tonight. Uisce Éireann is not hands-on. It does not understand the pipe network or the reservoirs. It has a plan to stop taking water from the water treatment plant in Poulavanogue. It has laid a pipe 3 km up the road to pump water back up there. What it is doing is bizarre. It does not want to know and it will not listen. We have a reservoir up in the Ragwell. That is empty but should be used. Businesses did buy into the business network and text alert service the Minister of State mentioned but are not engaging with it because Uisce Éireann will not give them the reports. William Burke organised a meeting in the Clonmel Park Hotel, which I attended. Reports about these reservoirs and the water supplies were asked for but were not given. Businesses will have to make freedom of information requests. The contempt Uisce Éireann has for businesses, householders and public representatives is appalling.

I salute the councillors in Clonmel borough district area. They have been at their wits' end. Imagine having no water for 40 days during the summer when there are nearly floods in the river. The reservoirs cannot be filled in other schemes, including those in the Ardfinnan region, the Galtee region and the Lingaun supply in Carrick-on-Suir. There is water everywhere but the reservoirs cannot be filled because there are technical issues that are not understood and there are no technicians to fix them in time. The Minister of State's reply is useless, toothless and fruitless. When the caretakers were there - I salute one of them, PJ Cullinan, who went to his eternal rest last year - they were at the plants and understood them. Now they are looked at from a distance and by computer. The reservoirs have been less than a third full all of this year when there has been rain and more rain. Even tonight, they are a third full. There is something radically wrong with the systems when the reservoirs cannot be filled to maintain pressure in the pipes and supply the towns.

The Minister of State mentioned relaying pipework. We appreciate that is a help but the basic problem is at the plants and the lack of understanding of the system. It is new, modern technology and it is not fit for purpose. We have a spanking new plant in Orchardstown in Thurles, only fitted two years ago. Thurles had a boil water notice for 40 days recently, so all the investment is not working. It is about going back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, Irish Water is not fit for purpose and it does not listen to the people or the businesses.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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It would appear to me, having just listened to the debate, that it is not an unreasonable request to ask Irish Water to engage with its customers in Clonmel.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Absolutely.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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It is a public utility paid for out of the public purse.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I agree wholeheartedly. In fairness to Uisce Éireann, it has engaged on this issue. My understanding is that there has been a comprehensive written update issued to all local public representatives this month, setting out-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Useless.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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-----Uisce Éireann's investment for Clonmel and its communication strategy and engagement practices with local elected representatives. My own experience has been that this is improving, and has been improving, particularly over the last year. I also understand that Uisce Éireann has provided comprehensive details on the Clonmel outages to the Clonmel business association last week, and further, provided briefings to Oireachtas Members and Tipperary County Council water services at a workshop last week. This is more proactive. I know historically that Deputies have raised issues around Uisce Éireann's communication but I think it is improving. Deputy McGrath will challenge that but I think it is improving.

Regarding long-term plans, Uisce Éireann is running a public consultation on the regional water resources plan for the south-east region, and this includes part of Tipperary. The plan sets out options for providing a more secure, reliable and sustainable water supply for almost 370,000 customers-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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In ten years' time.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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-----in the south-east region for over the next 25 years. Feedback is sought through the public consultation on the draft rural water programme, RWP for the south east. I reiterate that it is critically important, as the Ceann Comhairle said, that the channel of communication between Uisce Éireann and its customers - in this case, the business community in Clonmel town centre - is effective, meaningful and addressing the issues as they see them. I think that is happening but I can appreciate the challenge that it has brought about for the business community in Clonmel.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I appreciate that response and I thank the Minister of State.