Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the aftermath of Storm Emma we have been left with considerable chaos with respect to two topics I wish to raise today. Both relate to shortages, the first a shortage of water and the second a shortage of blood. Regarding water shortages, we have learned from the Kennedy analysis that we have a 57% leakage rate in Dublin. We know that Dublin's pipes are ancient, corroded, full of holes and generally not fit for purpose. We also know that in London, which has leakage rates of less than half of what we have in Dublin, they are replacing their old Victorian water mains. To date, Irish Water has no such plans. Instead it is planning on a mega project to pump water 172 km from the River Shannon to Dublin. No doubt this is a great plan which would give us a sustainable water source into the future, but surely we need to start replacing our old water mains and Victorian pipes at the very least. What is the point in pumping water into leaky pipes? It does not make any sense.

Dublin 12, 8 and 6W have some of the oldest pipes in the city, which corresponds with the fact that Dublin 12, 8 and 6W have some of the oldest and most beautiful homes in the city, and they have been most affected by the water shortages to date. Local shops in Dublin South-Central have literally run out of bottled water, a sight one would not see in Third World countries. There has been some confusion of late in the media regarding the use of the word "demand". People are not using more water. On average, Irish people use less water than households in the UK. The term is being used interchangeably with the term "leakages". The recent weather and the result of freeze-thaw action has seen a further deterioration in old Dublin pipes and drains.

I call on the Government to make a commitment to this House to replace the old Victorian mains in my beloved city. I also want to echo a call made by my party colleague, Councillor Paul McAuliffe for Irish Water to publish daily information on treated water levels in our capital. As our former Taoiseach used to say, "Paddy likes to know".

The second issue I wish to raise is that of the blood supply in this city. With people confined to their homes during the storm, blood donations fell and that has put serious pressure on blood supplies. Many cancer patients know, as do their family members, the importance of blood donation and blood supply for cancer treatment. My father, over the course of his 15 years of illness, would have had to receive litres of blood from generous blood donors throughout the country. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service stated on Tuesday that it has three days' supply of common blood types of regular blood and only two days' supply of blood group O. Its aim is to collect 7,000 donations between now and St. Patrick's Day. If people are suitable donors, I ask that they make their way to their local blood donation clinic. It is very important that we increase our supply, especially in light of the fact that we have 600 people waiting on trolleys to be treated around the country and there is a bottleneck with respect to supply due to the storm. I request the Leader to call on the Minister to make this happen.