Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I call on the Leader to organise a debate on the Irish Water investment programme at the earliest opportunity. Every county in the country has issues with water and wastewater. In west Clare, there is a very serious issue with an ageing asbestos water pipe network that has been there for more than 50 years and has gone beyond its operational life span. There are recurring incidents of burst pipes in the line. In the last three or four weeks there have been five or six breaks in a section of the pipe network between Creagh and Cooraclare, which has a major impact on that community.

I compliment the staff of the local authority along with Councillor Bill Chambers who have done their best to get the leaks fixed. However, that as a policy is not good enough. Investment is required to replace the ageing pipe network. It is not good enough for the communities that suffer as a result. Over the weekend I spoke to families who are very severely impacted. Families with young children need to prepare bottles along with the usual stuff associated with the domestic household. Unannounced, breaks occur in the line and families find themselves without water. When the water supply is restored, they have all the associated problems of dirty water for hours. Sometimes it takes a day or two to flush out that dirty water and there are also airlocks. Farmers, particularly dairy farmers, are going through a busy period. They need fresh water to clean out their milking systems but they cannot be guaranteed a water supply to do it. After the morning milking, it must be completed before the evening.

That area of the county is also looking forward to the reopening of tourism. It is not a great image to portray when trying to welcome people back to tourist facilities and not being able to assure them that they will be able to have a shower in the morning or that there will be water to boil the kettle. We need a serious debate in this House on that investment programme. The sooner we can arrange it, the better.