Results 1,801-1,820 of 6,631 for speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It is really useful to have all of the witnesses in the room together. My questions are mainly for Irish Water, but I have one question for ESB Networks. We had an outage across north Mayo for nearly 24 hours last week and the outages seem to be more frequent. What is the reason for that? Many households are left without light, heat and water. A lot of food in fridges and freezers had to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Because I am short of time I want to ask if this is likely to happen again in the Mayo area. Is the Mayo and Sligo area in general more vulnerable to such outages? Is there any compensation in place for customers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: When Mr. Tarrant has fuller information on the technical problem, he will be able to give more assurances. Would he be able to give that full information to the committee when he gets it, which will allow us to inform our constituents? People need to know whether they should stock up their freezers for Christmas again after having done it and thrown everything out last week. People need...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Has an incident like that occurred in other areas? I am trying to establish if this area is more prone to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: ESB Networks will let us have the information. Is there any compensation for consumers through credits or anything else for the loss they have endured?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Therefore, there is no comeback for customers. They just wait and-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: ESB Networks should let the committee have the full information and we can talk a bit from there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I ask about the interface between Irish Water and the local authorities. Group water schemes are predominantly in rural areas and on every day, many people in rural areas are left without water. What can we do to improve the interface between Uisce Éireann and the local authorities? I want to ask about circular WSP01/16. What is the justification for requiring sureties when dealing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: There are added layers of quality control in place for the CWCs that are not in place for private developer-led works. When it comes to rural water, local authorities are not developers. There appears to be no justification in these circumstances for the added layer of sureties being sought by Uisce Éireann.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: The interpretation is often the problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: That is the crux of the problem. In the case of a water scheme that has been leaking for years and in respect of which debt has accrued, we are not talking about water that anybody has used, stolen or taken for free. However, because of the state of the piping infrastructure and the lack of sufficient resources, that is the situation people are in. Where do the resources come from? Uisce...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Given that the local authority says it does not have the resources, to whom should those involved with scheme apply?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Has Uisce Éireann written off debt in any cases?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Does the Department want to comment on how we get this resolved in a timely manner and how we get it addressed? The volunteers who run group water schemes are at their absolute wits' end. I am not making political points with it. I just want to make sure everybody in rural Ireland has water and has equality of water in the same way that people in other areas can expect. There is a real...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Can Mr. Joyce or any of the witnesses in the room offer me any assurance here today? Can anyone offer any assurance that these matters will be sorted out and that people will not be left without water on a continuous basis? This debt is hanging over people who never incurred it in the first place. Is there anybody who can provide assurance?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Can I make a point on that? When we submit a question to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, it passes it back as an Uisce Éireann issue. I can read it out exactly. I am sick and tired of this. It says Uisce Éireann is tasked with this, and it is not the Department's responsibility. People are passed from Billy to Jack and back again without any resolution...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I really need to ask that this be speeded up. I acknowledge that some work has been done, but I really want to get these off my desk. I want people to be able to get on with their lives and have access to water. It is not an excuse to be passed from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to the local authority to Irish Water and back again. This is what has been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Please do that as a matter of urgency. You can imagine people walking in and discovering that a system has been hacked. The same houses that had been without electricity for the week before have no water again on this occasion. It was the first time it has come to my attention that we are so vulnerable to cyberattacks. We may expect it on the HSE and previously on other things but here we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: The local authorities say they do not have the resources to give to the group water schemes. There is no other funding stream for them to bring the pipes up to standard. Even if they were to bring them up to standard, there is still legacy debt. I am trying to get some clarity on where the responsibility lies and how we get this solved because it is going on for months and years. People...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Rose Conway-Walsh: That is why I say the interface has to be better. There has to be better connectivity between local authorities, the Department and Uisce Éireann so that people can be guaranteed a water service and we are no longer in a situation where we are relying on volunteerism to deliver water when millions of euro are paid across the board.