Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein)

I am here again today to raise the issue of the boil water notice that has been placed on households and businesses in Macroom. Sadly, it is not an isolated incident. Since 2022, this is the eighth or ninth boil water notice that the people in Macroom have endured. Every couple of weeks the story repeats itself. The boil water notice goes in and families and businesses are massively disrupted. People are left with added expenses, worry and uncertainty about something as basic as clean, safe water. The cost of water is not cheap yet people are paying for it daily and weekly because they fear the tap water they have. Parents are boiling kettles to make bottles for their children. Elderly residents and those with health conditions are anxious about their safety. Cafés, restaurants, schools and community facilities face added costs. This is more than an inconvenience and it undermines trust in public services where it hits people's pockets. The people in Macroom are asking a very reasonable question. Why should they accept this as the continuous normal and why should they just take it lying down?

I know in the response today that the Minister of State will probably rightly point out the investment programmes that Uisce Éireann has delivered nationally and progress in modernising our system, but that means very little to the people in Macroom, to be honest. It does not make it easy on families fearing their own tap water. It does not ease the burden for the businesses that are already under pressure. It certainly does not excuse the fact that a growing town has been left in a cycle of boil water notices for years. What specific remedial works are under way right now and when will they be completed in Macroom? Most importantly, when will the residents and businesses be guaranteed safe, reliable water supply permanently and not just until the next crisis?

Macroom town is a growing town with new housing developments, new businesses and a wider rural hinterland depending on this supply. The infrastructure is not keeping up with the pace. Clean, safe drinking water is not a luxury, it is a right for people. The people in Macroom deserve better than repeated notices, extra costs and empty reassurances. They deserve a concrete plan with clear timelines and a guarantee that this pattern will not continue into 2026 and beyond.