Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to raise a matter of urgent importance affecting communities across Kildare North, that is, the sustained and worsening failure in water infrastructure, particularly in Celbridge, Leixlip and Maynooth. For far too long, families in estates such as Primrose Hill, Temple Manor and The Grove in Celbridge have been forced to endure weekend after weekend of drastically reduced water pressure. Constituents have told me they cannot wash their clothes, boil a kettle, flush their toilets or even shower on Saturdays and Sundays. One resident described it plainly: "We don't have enough water to live with dignity." Let us be clear; this is not an isolated incident or a one-off technical glitch. It is the direct result of an ageing and inadequate water network that is simply no longer fit for purpose in one of the fastest-growing parts of the country. We are asking people to conserve water when, in reality, many of them do not even have enough water to meet their basic household needs.

Uisce Éireann announced in April that it would begin vital works between Newcastle and Celbridge under its national leakage reduction programme. It committed to starting site investigations within two weeks, but those works did not commence. Our office had to chase it repeatedly without reply. It was only in mid-May that we learned it had not even secured a road-opening licence to carry out the works. That kind of delay is simply unacceptable, and that service to the public is shocking. In Celbridge, some households were left without water for up to ten days in 2024. In Leixlip, planned mains rehabilitation was announced but never commenced. In March 2025, Uisce Éireann itself admitted that Kildare’s water supply was on a knife edge.

More houses are being built in Kildare. Communities are growing, families are moving in, but the essential infrastructure is not keeping pace. The people of Kildare North deserve the same level of basic service as anyone else in this country. Last night, I spoke in this Chamber about the need for sustainable communities as we build more houses, apartments and duplexes, and there is a drastic need to build as much housing as possible. However, we need to ensure that we have sustainable communities when it comes to public services such as water. It is the bare minimum. I request that the Minister of State urgently speak with Uisce Éireann directly to ensure there is transparency, clear timelines and accelerated delivery of infrastructure in Kildare North. We need proper investment in water infrastructure now; not in two years, not when the pipes burst, but today.

I also wish to raise the issue of when a public representative or member of the public at large contacts Irish Water for an answer. We had to follow up about six or seven times without reply, and the reply we did receive at one stage was the token holding message that it would come back to us in due course. That is not good enough when people's water has gone. At the end of the day, no child should have to go to school on a Monday morning unwashed because the taps were dry at the weekend.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne. At the outset, I should advise that the Water Services Act 2017 sets out the arrangements in place for the delivery of water and wastewater services by Uisce Éireann. The scope, prioritisation and progression of individual projects are a matter for Uisce Éireann and approved through its own board and internal governance structure. The Minister has no role in these matters. I will bring the points the Deputy raised to the Minister's attention, however, and I will arrange for a follow-up with Uisce Éireann. It is not acceptable that he would be waiting for four or five return calls. We will follow up on that.

I have made inquiries, and I am informed that there are operational challenges in the water network in Celbridge, including Hazelhatch. However, under the national leakage reduction programme, Uisce Éireann is progressing with a replacement of 5.2 km of Irish Water mains between Newcastle, County Dublin and Celbridge, County Kildare, which the Deputy has already referenced. Uisce Éireann's contractor is mobilising crews to commence site investigations that are necessary for design stage of the project, which the Deputy also referenced. The construction phase is estimated to commence in quarter 3 of 2025. These essential works are part of a significant investment programme by Uisce Éireann to improve the water network between Newcastle and Celbridge. This project will provide a more reliable water supply to customers and local businesses in the area with less disruption due to bursts and leakages. Uisce Éireann is also carrying out leakage reduction works in Allenwood to provide a more reliable water supply and reduce the high level of leakage.

Uisce Éireann is also carrying out leakage reduction works in Allenwood to provide a more reliable water supply and reduce the high level of leakage. The work involves the replacement of more than 3.7 km of problematic water mains with new modern pipes. The works commenced in November 2024 and 2 km are now complete. The works also provide laying new water service connections from the public water main on the road to customers' property boundaries and connecting it to the customers' water supply, with an estimated construction completion in quarter 3 of 2025.

In Leixlip, phase 2 of upgrade works costing €20 million is almost complete at the Leixlip water treatment plant. This plant has now commenced a third investment phase worth €30 million, aimed at increasing the resilience and capacity of Ireland's second largest water treatment facility, which is anticipated to take three years to complete.

I will turn now to other investment in Kildare, Uisce Éireann completed essential works to upgrade the wastewater network in Newbridge north. In another project, Uisce Éireann upgraded wastewater infrastructure in Newbridge as part of the wider Upper Liffey Valley sewerage scheme to reduce overflows into the River Liffey. A total of 11 towns across Kildare benefited from the completion of a €75 million investment by Uisce Éireann to upgrade and improve the local wastewater infrastructure. The completion of these vital projects will improve the water quality in the Liffey by reducing the risk of sewer overflows during severe weather events.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I want to outline how the communications on burst water mains happens in Kildare. I will pick Maynooth as an example. I was a councillor there for close to 11 years before being elected to this House. I could get a call at 2 o'clock in the morning from a resident in a housing estate or from the local fire service telling me there is a burst water main. I then had to get on to Irish Water and the county council. After that, I got on to the local schools to let the principals know there was a burst water main. The principals then had to make a decision based on the communications from me not, might I add, from Irish Water on whether or not to open the school that day. We had multiple instances of that in Maynooth last year and in recent years. That should not be my role as a councillor nor as a TD. I am stepping into a void that Uisce Éireann is not filling, particularly when it comes to schools. We need to have a little bit of cop-on here.

Something that really irks me as well is when Irish Water comes back to us and to the public at large, referring to the public as "customers". The public are not customers of Irish Water. They are service users of a service that is being provided to them by the State.

In the half a minute I have left, while I speak about Maynooth, the Celbridge Road, where the burst water mains occur time and time again, as they still have not been repaired, has been extremely dangerous. There was an incident there last week when a student was hit by car. Thankfully, she has made a full recovery. This road has given rise to multiple incidents relating to water mains, traffic, and road safety issues for children. It is the bane of the lives of principals, parents and students in the town of Maynooth. Could urgent attention be given to that road, first by Irish Water, to ensure that works are completed and, more importantly, from a safety perspective for the students and staff in the school on the road?

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil very much. I accept the points he makes and how genuine he is in raising them and outlining the impact. The Minister, Deputy Browne, has made inquiries and was informed that there are operational challenges in the wastewater network in Celbridge, including Hazelhatch. However, under the national leakage reduction programme, Uisce Éireann is progressing with the replacement of 5.2 km of old water mains between Newcastle, County Dublin, and Celbridge, County Kildare. The main contractor is mobilising crews to commence site investigations that are necessary for the design stage of the project. The construction phase is estimated to commence in quarter 3 of 2025.

The Deputy raised a couple of other points. There is clearly a need for a structured protocol in Irish Water. We spoke about the impact on the schools. There are two issues in that regard. The first is the water mains works that need to be carried out by Uisce Éireann and then the follow-on work involving the reconstruction of the road itself. The local authority and the Department of Transport would probably be involved, along with Uisce Éireann.

I will go back to the Minister, Deputy Browne, to follow up on Uisce Éireann's communication on disruptions and the need to perhaps have a protocol for schools, which is vital. For completeness, I ask the Deputy to follow up by providing those details in correspondence directly to the Minister. I will bring the matter raised to the Minister's attention and to the attention of his officials but, for completeness, I urge the Deputy to set out all the points.

As the Deputy is probably aware, Uisce Éireann has established a dedicated team to deal with queries from public representatives. It can be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or via the dedicated telephone number 0818 578 578. The Deputy makes a valid point that comes up repeatedly about the interaction and response times. It came up in a previous debate here about Uisce Éireann as well. It is a matter that we will continue to bring up directly with Uisce Éireann itself, but I ask the Deputy to email the Minister as well.