Mattie McGrath condemns plan to cut Clannemel's natural water supply

Let's dive into the discussions shaping the nation that's fine but this practice has crept in here and it's totally unfair to deputies. You expect to have the line minister to deal with issues that they can get an understanding and it's not good enough and I hope it changes in this stall. Minister Eireann are currently working on a 20 million investment project to move sections of caramel water consumers onto different stores. You might say what's the big deal. The so-called solution includes upgrades to the water treatment plant, plants at Monroe, improvements for the pumping station and a 15 km pipe that will see hard water be brought into all parts of Clannemel. You might say hard water, very hard water. Lime. So this is a situation where the water at the present for the whole half of the town is coming from a pull of an oak supply in Coindy-Port-Laurega in Waterford up the hill. Gravity flow, wonderful plant is working for I suppose 200 years or more and there was a while and the rag well that's lying idle now that used to have a backup supply for the centre of the town. They want to stop all that natural supply, supplying the businesses and households in the town and bring in the water for Monroe which is out as I said 15 km and that's depending on a borehole and a pump. And I understand this week there have been two or three hours that think that unexplained, they can't explain why the wells stopped. So wells will stop. Anybody who has a house well knows wells will go dry, wells will stop. In the storms, electricity, wells are out and you disconnect gravity flow into the town. It's nothing short of insanity. And the hard water, the Chamber of Commerce indeed have expressed huge concerns about the costs. Remember all the business people in Clannemel and every place else pay for the water and pay quite dearly for water in and water out. They expect to have water that's not going to destroy all their equipment and many, many high-speed equipment in cafeterias and in hotels and in all premises like that and the householders. Already the people not to the bypass in Clannemel are under hard water and they have huge problems, huge cost implications putting in softeners and replacing the salts. And Irish Water won't even put in a softener, a big softener at the source. They won't entertain that. They won't entertain that. We're begging them, pleading, to leave the water supply. Why would you cut off your nose and bite your face? Cutting off a supply that's working. They're saying it's because of, you know, standards of water. But it's always been of a high standard, high quality. And I salute Eugene Jarrigan now and all the other water, Mr Hattigan before him, the caretakers who looked after it. And it was built by hand, crafted and a fabulous, exactly, reservoir. It was built by the British Army, I'm sure. But it's still the test of time. And now we're cutting off, we're giving the whole town this hard water, when, depending on a borehole, which will run dry, no doubt about it, that's unexplained, I said, outage this week. Business people have sat down with Irish Water. The manager of the Park Hotel, Richard Leeson of Leeson's Mayor and Leona Hickey of Hickey's Bakery, long established businesses. They don't want this to happen because it's going to wreak, cause havoc to their equipment and who's going to support them? They're already struggling in business without doing this, as I said, mad so-called solution. It's not a solution. They've done huge interruptions in all over the town in preparatory books to bring this new supply in and digging up and changing it directly. It's going to be bedlam for business and householders and it's not acceptable that a company like Irish Water, who are answerable and accountable to nobody. That's why I wanted a minister here today and I'm appealing for the minister to bring them in and somebody talk to them about nonsense that's been carried on. Thank you, Deputy. Minister. Thank you very much, Deputy, and congratulations on your successful re-election to Dáil Éireann. As you've alluded to, I am taking this topical issue on behalf of the relevant minister, who in this case is Minister Brown and also Minister Cummins. I'm absolutely happy to pass on your feedback in relation to what you've just said about Irish Water and your ask of them. The supply of public water and the provision of water services, as you've acknowledged, are matters for Éireann. Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, at local and at regional level. Under Section 7 of the Water Services Act No. 2, 2013, no minister has function regarding Éireann's specific operations, as you've said yourself. However, to be helpful, the relevant minister and I have made inquiries to Éireann on your behalf, and they have confirmed that they are committed to delivering safe and secure drinking water supplies for customers. This requires them to comply with all Irish and European Union standards relating to drinking water, and in particular the European Union Drinking Water Regulation. I have been informed that the water supply from the Munro Water Treatment Plant is indeed harder than the Pula Van Oag Treatment Plant. However, the improvement in water quality and the importance of protecting public health strongly offsets any inconvenience which may result from a change in water hardness. Iske Éireann has advised that hard water contains high level of natural minerals that have come from rock and soil, and it is very common in Ireland's drinking supply. Hard water does not pose any public health risk, and it does meet the drinking water regulations, and depending on local geology, the hardness of the water supply will vary, but such water is perfectly safe to drink. Further information on hard water, and advice on how to manage it, because you have iterated a number of concerns that businesses in particular have around this. There is advice on this available at the Éireann website. We have a strong customer service focus through the Water Charges Plan and Customer Charter, which outlines the standard of service customers should expect to receive. That Water Charges Plan sets out a really comprehensive mechanism in cases where water quality may be compromised or unfit for human consumption, such as boil water, drinking water, restriction notices. But the message here is this water is absolutely safe. Business customers, as you have said, deputy, pay for water charges, and those who pay for water charges are entitled to a rebate under the customer handbook, as agreed with the Commission for Regulation and Utilities, in instances where it is unsafe. However, the implementation of that plan is a matter for Éireann, and any issues which can't be resolved by them can, of course, go to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. I think I look healthy enough, and the water is perfect, and why would you – it is vandalism, state vandalism, to actually dismantle a perfect scheme. It is a backup, it will be dismantled altogether. When the pump supply, as I said, has outage this week, Connell has been without water, I suppose, nearly 50 days last year without water, and maybe more. It has been constantly interrupted. I know we have a denarii supply, I know it very well, and Perleman Oag, and then we have the Munro, and will the well? It won't, the well won't last. Any household knows that themselves. Well's run out, pumps, and the source might go down. So, the failure of Irish water to be able to give answers to why the well stopped functioning a number of times in the last week is very worrying. And you talk about the website and everything else. It's lovely on paper, but it's not functioning. Irish water and functioning as a utility. And the sooner that stood down, the better. And nobody will engage with you, and people that will engage with you don't know anything what you're talking about. And they don't want to take any experience from the retiring personnel who are going out. They've offered to show people where all the connections and valves are, but no, they know everything, but yet they know nothing. So, there's nothing so blind as those who cannot see at all. But the business people of Connell and the householders in the greater part of Connell, all Connell, will not accept this because it's going to cost them a fortune. And it's going to damage all their machines, very high-spec machines that they've equipped, as we know now, for catering and for many other things, for washing, for everything. So, why is, as I said, utter madness to destroy and destruct an old functioning water supply that has survived the Connell town for hundreds of years? And this all in the name of modernisation. And the standards, actually, they've set are actually too high. That's what the problem when the reservoirs are tripping out because it's all computerised and the standards are too high, actually, set. And they need to be examined by the EPA as well. We need common sense to prevail here, and we need to keep the soft water, and we don't need to destroy a periphery functioning source that is continuing to supply all of the greater part of the town of Connell, as I said, the heart of Connell town. Thank you, Deputy. Minister. Deputy, you're right when you say that we need to invest in our water supply. That's absolutely crucial. And the examples that you've given here of water shortages and of water outages really reinforce that. Both our water and our wastewater systems require substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles. And that's to bring systems up to the quality and to the resilience standards required of a modern service to provide for population growth and to build resilience in the face of climate change. The Department of Local Government secured record investment when it comes to water services for Ishka Aaron in the period of 2021 to 2025, with commitments of almost €6 billion in capital investment, which over €4.5 billion will be voted exchequer funding for domestic water services. And this commitment is reflected in this year's budget as well, with the Department securing record funding of over €2.2 billion, and included in that is €514 million in terms of the billion equity investment. And that's all about giving Ishka Aaron the ability and the investment to be able to meet the cost of delivering water services this year. What's really important, I suppose, for your constituents in Clonmelton is that this overall investment will deliver significant improvements in our public water and wastewater services. It'll support deputy improved water supplies right across Ireland, including rural Ireland, including Dipperary, and it'll support a range of programmes delivering improved water services in our rivers, in our lakes, in our marine areas. It's going to make a significant contribution to addressing Ireland's needs. Ishka Aaron, as we both acknowledged, has a dedicated team to deal with representations, and I'll absolutely provide your feedback to the two relevant ministers, and I hope that you'll engage with them on this and to outline the concerns of your constituents and also the businesses in your area. But as I've said, I'll absolutely take that feedback back to the minister relevant. Like, share, and subscribe, and let us know your thoughts in the comments. We'd love to hear from you.