Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for his liberty. He is very kind to me.

We saw further issues with Irish Water during the summer. People in a large part of County Louth did not have water for several days. Similar issues have arisen in County Cork in recent weeks as a result of continual breaks in service. Twice in three weeks, big primary schools in the county had to close at 11 a.m. and send their students home because Irish Water was unable to provide water to them. We need to address issues with our infrastructure. I hope whatever is required to increase the budget for Irish Water in a way that allows it to do something with this infrastructure is provided in next week's budget. Children's education is being affected by water mains repeatedly collapsing and having to be repaired. This is a huge issue. The school authorities in Ballygarvan, which has been affected by these problems, are trying to ensure pupils will get the minimum number of days of education in the current school year. Can Senators imagine that this is a core issue? Although we are in the early days of October, the school authorities are already worried that kids will not spend enough time in school this year as a result of being sent home so that water mains could be fixed. We need to ensure infrastructure is improved so that people can enjoy an appropriate quality of life.