Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. It is unfortunate that I have to raise it in the House but it is primarily because of the lack of information that has been provided to residents in Ferns, County Wexford, by Irish Water. Uisce Éireann issued a boil water notice in Ferns on 28 June due to the detection of the presence of cryptosporidium in the local water supply. It is reckoned that 1,723 people are impacted by this and the residents of Ferns are now on their 14th day of a boil water notice. Residents are being forced to buy water for washing, for cleaning, for laundry and for drinking purposes. No tankers have been provided into the community. At a meeting of Wexford County Council this week, one of the directors of services for the council, who has been trying to get answers, told members of the council that this could take up to another three weeks to resolve.

People are living in an area potentially without a water supply for more than a month now. The real concern residents have is that there does not seem to be an end in sight. There has been a lack of communication on the part of Uisce Éireann with residents in the area. They have not been told exactly what is going on. We understand there may be testing of the waters. That has to happen. The health and safety of people living in the area has to be the first concern. However, Uisce Éireann could at least give an estimate of how long this will last and what is going on at the moment in terms of testing, to keep people informed. Communication is a basic requirement. Given this has been going on for so long, tankers should be brought in. We have seen this in other instances where there have been problems with water supplies. We had a problem with the water supply in my town, Gorey, a number of years ago, and tankers were brought in.

I am sorry to have to bring this matter before the House but it is due to the lack of information provided to people. The Minister of State can understand the importance of good, clean water. This issue is just not acceptable. It has been going on for 14 days, so far, and we reckon it could be another three weeks before the matter is resolved.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. I am glad he raised the issue. It is unfortunate he should have to raise it here. However, as a Member of the Seanad, he is entirely entitled to raise matters on behalf of the community in which he lives, particularly something as concerning as a boil-water notice that has lasted 14 days. I note he said he had difficulties in terms of communication. I understand the director of services at the county council also had difficulties in terms of communication. That makes it extremely difficult to communicate with people who have to buy water in order to do basic activities. The Senator stated that tankers have not been brought in.

I have no better answer for the Senator this morning. I am very sorry to say that, because the reply I have here essentially restates what the Senator said. It simply says there has been a boil-water notice since 28 June and that I am to recognise the inconvenience of the notice, which was issued as a precautionary measure to protect the health of 1,723 customers, due to the detection of something nasty in the water supply that I cannot pronounce. The notice was issued after consultation with the HSE. On behalf of the Department, I am to take the opportunity to reinforce the advice that people should boil their water before drinking it. Uisce Éireann has indicated that its compliance and operations experts are on site.

I know the Senator already knows that because it is almost certainly the information that is available to anybody who is looking at the website, for example, and looking for a further and better answer about how long they are going to have to boil water to do basic things such as care for their infants and small children or elderly parents. People need their health maintained, quite apart from the inconvenience of having to go out and buy water to carry out extra basic activities. I know that people there are very resilient and able to do all of those things as well. However, it is reasonable to expect some measure of communication, expectation management or explanation as to the issue that has gone wrong and how it might be remedied in the future.

I am terribly sorry to say that, despite being a Member of this House and coming into this House to raise a perfectly legitimate concern on behalf of the people in his area, I cannot provide the Senator with any further or better information.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for her honesty, as always. It speaks to a bigger issue with Uisce Éireann. A number of us have had problems with the lack of communication before. Of course people do not want to drink water that is contaminated with cryptosporidium, but they want at least to be informed as to what is going on and have an alternative water supply made available. The behaviour of Uisce Éireann in this matter has been appalling in regard to its lack of communication with residents in the area. Of course it has to prioritise health and safety but it needs to communicate with people. I worry because this is not the first time something like this has happened. What is happening in Ferns could happen somewhere else. Uisce Éireann needs to learn to be responsive to the needs of the people in the community.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I could not agree more. The people in the Senator's community will understand that things go wrong and that it is completely reasonable in any walk of life or in any part of the State services that problems will occur and will have to be fixed. However, how State services respond to problems matters as much as anything else. The lack of communication with people is evident because the Senator would not raise the matter with me this morning if it was not a significant problem.

I am embarrassed that I cannot give the Senator and the people in the area a better answer. The boil-water notice had to be raised in Seanad Éireann, at this level, when it should never get this far. The Senator and I are here, supported by all the institutions of the State, the man hours that facilitate the Seanad and everything else, and I cannot give a better answer. I certainly hope that Uisce Éireann will respond to his concern by providing better communication to the people affected. That is the only thing that matters. Perhaps it will do so through the director of services, the Senator or other public representatives in the area who no doubt are equally concerned about the well-being of their constituents.