Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me the opportunity to raise this and many other important matters in the Seanad in the past few years. This issue relates to sewer pipes in very old estates. Some estates were constructed as recently as 40 years ago, but others are much older. I have come across examples in Ashbourne, Duleek and Drogheda. The issue concerns sewer pipes that become blocked from time to time due to inadequate infrastructure put in place at the time in the 1970s, 1960s or even the 1930s. If the pipes in one house are blocked, the pipes in the whole street can also become blocked. Until Irish Water was formed, the local authorities used to regularly clear sewer pipes on behalf of residents. Since responsibility for water and sewage services was removed from local authorities, in general, Irish Water refuses to clear sewer pipes.

There are cases in which people have to clear a blockage in their systems. However, the blockage is not on theirs but on someone else's property and nothing can be done about it. This is a very serious issue which tends to affect older residents who have been in their houses for a long time. It is not a problem that affects newer estates as much. This is a responsibility local authorities had taken on for many years, but it did follow through to Irish Water. It is essential that some direction be given to it, specifically in estates where this work was always done by the local authority. It is not possible for someone to deal with a problem caused down the street; it has to be dealt with centrally by the public authorities.