I thank the Minister of State for taking Topical Issues again - two days in a row. I must be following him around. It is appreciated. I wish to raise a matter today, similar to the previous speaker, around the growing concerns for families in Lusk, in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West. Repeated water outages have taken place for the past couple of weeks affecting two estates, in particular Kelly Park and Dun Emer. From the outset, I want to be clear. I am not denying that maintenance and upgrade work to our infrastructure is not essential. Some of these pipes are 50 or 60 years old, so the fact that they are being done is to be welcomed. We all want reliable and resilient water infrastructure and investment in that infrastructure is welcome. However, serious questions must be asked as to how these works are being scheduled and the impact they are having on local families, childcare providers and businesses. Councillor Mark Boland and I have been inundated by a number of businesses in Lusk over the past couple of weeks, including two early years education providers. Between them, they provide care for up to 100 families. Under the Tusla regulations, these providers must have access to running water in order to operate safely and legally. They are full-day services so they cannot use just what they have in the tank. It is not that they are early childhood care and education, ECCE, or national childcare scheme, NCS, services. When the water supply is interrupted, they simply cannot open their doors. The consequences are significant. Parents are left scrambling at short notice to find alternative childcare arrangements. Many have no choice but to take annual leave from work. Others lose a day's wages. Meanwhile, they continue to pay their regular childcare fees and taxes that fund Government subsidies to support these providers. They are forced to pay a third time when they are looking for alternative childcare. This is not a minor inconvenience; it places real financial pressure on working families who are already dealing with the rising cost of living. My question is straightforward. Why are these planned outages repeatedly taking place during normal working hours on weekdays? If they are scheduled and planned works, surely every effort should be made to minimise disruption to families and businesses. Have any alternatives been considered? Can these works be scheduled in the evenings, overnight and at weekends when the impact on early education and school-age childcare providers, schools, businesses and working parents would be substantially reduced? The people of Lusk understand the need for infrastructure works. What we are asking for is consideration, communication and common sense in regard to how these works are carried out. Therefore, I am calling on Uisce Éireann and the Minister of State to review the schedule around planned water outages and engage directly with affected communities to ensure that essential works can proceed while minimising disruption to families, childcare providers and local businesses.

Sentiment score: 0.13

I thank the Minister of State. I have seen the reference to undocumented branches. If pipes were put in 50 or 60 years ago, the mapping may not have been as good as it is today. I accept and understand that. I welcome that Uisce Éireann is engaging with the businesses but if it could speak to the two crèche owners in particular, it would certainly alleviate some of the frustrations felt by the residents in the local area. I get that there is no ideal solution here but, as the Minister of State mentioned, what families are looking for is to minimise the disruption as much as possible, to alleviate the stress on working families and for Uisce Éireann to engage with the local communities and crèches as much as possible. Before I finish up, I wish to welcome my former French teacher, Mr. Robin Gallagher, to the Gallery, and my ex-colleague in St. Joseph's Secondary School, the German teacher, Ms Anita Irwin, who is a big supporter of Europe Day every year. Like myself, she is probably looking forward to the EU Presidency.

Sentiment score: 0.27