Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I again have to raise the issue of the water supply in the village of Murrisk, which is near Westport, and the surrounding areas. I know I have raised this before. I have submitted several Commencement matters on the issue which have all been refused. It really is a serious problem and it is escalating.

Before somebody says that if we had water charges we would have a water supply there, the connection between Westport and Louisburgh was agreed as far back as 2007, when the plans were drawn up. We also have to remember that putting money in a rainy day fund when people do not have a proper water supply is just not acceptable.

I want to read an extract from one of the notes I got from people living in the area. It is from a man whose wife is expecting a baby in the near future. He says, "I personally store my water in a settlement tank in our garden, pump it into our house through an expensive treatment system", and that, "we buy bottled water". He goes on to say, "The pipe moves when the torrent is fast due to heavy rain, or if it hasn’t rained water does not get into the pipe." It is a pipe coming out of a stream. He says, "I have spent hours on winter nights up the mountain sometimes knee deep in freezing cold water, trying to get our water back by removing airlocks etc." It is not acceptable that we have people living in conditions like this in 2018 just because they are living in the west of Ireland.

It does not only affect the residents living in that area between Westport and Louisburgh, but the thousands upon thousands of people who visit Croagh Patrick every year. In a couple of weeks' time we will have thousands climbing the Reek. Something absolutely has to be done. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, to come to the House to discuss this and other areas in the country that do not have a proper water supply. We really need to get some water to these people. As I said, a rainy day fund is not an option when we have whole areas such as this one without a proper water supply.