Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein)
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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.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Ryan for raising this important issue on the boil water notice for the Macroom public water supply in County Cork which has been in place since 12 September. I recognise the inconvenience placed on those who have a boil water notice on their water supply. As the Senator rightly pointed out, the inconvenience for householders and businesses is very significant. I have experienced it in my own constituency in Waterford as well. Uisce Éireann has informed me that this boil water notice was issued as a precautionary measure to protect the health of approximately 4,697 customers due to operational issues at Macroom water treatment plant which resulted in elevated turbidity levels in the treated water. This notice was issued by Uisce Éireann after consultation with the HSE. I take this opportunity to reinforce the advice that all consumers affected by this notice must boil their water before drinking. Uisce Éireann has also indicated that the operational issues at the plant have now been resolved and turbidity levels have returned to normal. Uisce Éireann is working with the HSE to lift the boil water notice as quickly and as safely as possible. Lifting of a boil water notice will only occur when the issue is resolved and the HSE confirms that there is no further risk to the public.

The Senator rightly asked what is going to be done about this. I would be surprised if the Senator was not aware that, in April of this year, a €6.5 million upgrade of the Macroom water treatment plant commenced. It is a very significant investment that will address the risks to water quality and the frequent boil water notices which the Senator pointed out the people of Macroom have experienced over the past number of years. In recognition of this, significant investment is being put in by Government and Uisce Éireann. The works are expected to be completed in the summer of next year. This will have a significant impact in terms of improving water quality and reducing the number of outages that have been in the system.

Uisce Éireann is being allocated €514 million in 2025 of the €1 billion capital investment announced by the Minister for Finance in budget 2025. The budget allocation in total will increase next year and in the funding of the strategic plan of €16.9 billion through to 2029, which was approved in November of last year. Very significant Government funding is going into Uisce Éireann to address many of the legacy issues that have been in place. I recognise that Macroom has a growing population. I had the pleasure of visiting there two or three weeks ago as Minister of State with responsibility for planning and local government to see significant housing development at an infill site there. Obviously, adequate water and wastewater supply is critical to ensuring that expansion can continue in Macroom. I am extremely pleased to say there is a significant €6.5 million investment under way right at this moment which will be completed in the summer of next year, which will have a very positive and significant impact for the people of the area.

Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. I was aware of that. The majority of people in Macroom are aware of the upgrades that Uisce Éireann will be doing. The issue is in the interim, between now and 2026. What seems to be happening is, any time there is really bad weather or flooding, all of a sudden there is a boil water notice. Are we saying to the people of Macroom that they are supposed to continue with this pattern of boil water notices until these upgrades are done? It is going to put people under pressure and out of pocket. Uisce Éireann has offered nothing else that can be done for people, just telling them to boil their water and continue as they are or else go out of pocket and pay for water, because until 2026 nothing really is going to be done for them and they are going to keep going through the cycle.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. If she has a suggestion on what needs to be done between now and summer of next year, I am all ears. She is more than welcome to feed that back to me. That investment is under way and will have a positive impact. We acknowledge the effect it has in the area in terms of those boil water notices. They are put there as a safety precaution by the HSE. Obviously Uisce Éireann has to adhere to them and can only lift boil water notices when approved to do so by the HSE. I am pleased to say there is a significant investment which will have a positive impact in terms of the ability to expand development in Macroom over the coming years, which is what we want to see in terms of increased housing capacity. If the Senator has any suggestions, I am more than happy to take them back to Uisce Éireann.