Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleagues in remembering Armistice Day. I personally visited the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Flanders, where I learned that a Craughwell and a Quigley both died on the same day in Childer Wood. My mother being a Quigley and my father a Craughwell, I found it rather ironic. Having worn a uniform for ten years in two armies, I believe politicians make war and soldiers die.

I ask the Leader to set aside time for a debate on the serious issue of lead in drinking water. While the debate on water charges continues unabated, residents of a small development of houses in Tralee, County Kerry, are drawing their drinking water from a tap at the local council depot in Rock Street. The residents of St. Brendan's Park, Tralee, are at their wits' end in the saga, which began earlier this year and is only now being addressed by Kerry County Council and Irish Water. Apart from the very substantial risk to residents' health from lead contaminated water, Irish Water's handling of the issue is yet another example of the ineffectiveness of this new State utility. The plight of the residents of St. Brendan's Park has been highlighted in a very active social media campaign by residents and uncovers an issue that concerns not only them but 150,000 houses nationwide. While Irish Water has publicly acknowledged that more than 100,000 homes have lead service pipes, it is also aware that 30,000 to 40,000 homes have lead piping on their properties.

The Tralee case highlights a number of important issues and the public's general lack of awareness of this very serious health risk associated with drinking lead contaminated water. Several people to whom I spoke this week, including members of the media, believed the problem could be solved simply by boiling the water. For those in affected areas in Tralee, Dublin, Cork, Limerick and other parts of the country, a consumer information package must immediately be distributed. Legislators such as us need to examine the efficacy of the public health perspective of the situation whereby environmental health officers, EHOs, in HSE offices can only advise local authorities-----