The issue I raise has been raised by other Deputies in the Chamber. It is something that is happening across Dublin. I was in the Chair last week when colleagues asked about the closure of the sorting office on Griffith Avenue. The response from the Government was, I understand, the one it received from An Post. Before the Minister of State reads out the response he has been given, I ask him to recall why he got involved in politics and the passion he has for his area. Within two weeks of starting a petition on the proposed relocation of the sorting office in Harmonstown, I had collected 2,000 signatures from the people I represent. More than 300 people contacted my office by telephone after I dropped leaflets in Harmonstown, Artane and the other affected areas. I have asked the Minister of State to think back to why he became involved in politics. As public representatives, we need information to represent the public successfully. I have been asking An Post what alternative arrangements will be implemented for the elderly and for people with mobility issues and other disabilities to enable them to collect their packages. Currently, if people are not home when an attempt is made to deliver, their package will go to the sorting office for storage until they collect it. An Post has said people will be able to go to the other post offices. However, we have seen the issues arising from the increasing numbers of parcel deliveries. Anyone who works Monday to Friday will miss their parcel. My understanding of what is currently proposed is that people in the Harmonstown area will have to go to Finglas to collect their parcels. That is a problem when traffic is already bad enough, we are looking to decarbonise our energy system and we are examining the idea of a 15-minute city. Some 2,000 people responded to my petition. That includes only the people I could reach. This is the community that I represent having its say. The sorting office is already up for sale. All we are asking for, as set out in my petition, is that An Post guarantee the community that there will be enough locations from which to collect their parcels. An Post has told us that local collection will remain in the area but there is no detail on that. It is not good enough. How can a community be okay with losing a vital amenity when the detail of what will replace it has not been given? An Post is owned by the people. Since the foundation of the State, it is has been one of the best-run public services. I know a lot of the workers, who are brilliant. They not only do their job; they have a chat with the people who come to collect their parcel. The sorting office is a community asset. I am not asking the Minister of State to collapse An Post and set it right as to its operational needs. The engineers and others working there, when discussing their plans for the day, are trying to react to the changes in how the postal service is being used. What I am asking is that the Minister of State seek a clear answer from An Post as to where the people I represent will collect their post when the sorting office in Harmonstown is gone. They need that answer before the office, which is already up for sale, is relocated. The community needs to know what will replace that service, upon which they rely. I spoke to many people on the doorsteps who were visibly upset about this. The office has been there since they bought their home. It is not acceptable for An Post to say this is an operational matter. It has been done in other areas across the country and has been shown to fail. I would love an answer as to how they will get back to the Minister of State.

An Post is a commercial semi-State company with a mandate to act commercially. As such, day-to-day operational matters such as decisions in relation to the size, distribution and future of the network are matters for the board and the management of the company. They are not matters in respect of which either the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, or the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan, have a statutory function. The Ministers are well aware of the impact that decisions relating to changes in An Post operations have on communities and individuals in both rural and urban Ireland. As noted, this is a matter for the company. It would be inappropriate for the Government, as a shareholder, to comment on or prejudice decisions which are for the board and management of An Post to consider. That said, this is an operational matter. Officials have been engaging with the company. An Post has advised in the case of Harmonstown, which the Deputy referred to, that the move is very much in the future and that there is much to be considered in the interim, including the facilities in the local area to be utilised in respect of undelivered mail. An Post has advised that it is in consultation with its staff and their unions on the details of the move. An Post notes that it is consolidating its national network of local sorting offices, which are also known as delivery sorting units, DSU. The company advises that it needs larger and purpose-fitted premises to manage increased parcel volumes. It also advises that as part of a city-wide plan over this year and next, it is relocating a number of its delivery offices to the new city delivery hubs. Among these will be the An Post delivery offices in Harmonstown, Dublin 5, and Griffith Avenue, Whitehall, Dublin 9, moving to a new north Dublin delivery hub. An Post states that the proposed move is scheduled for the second quarter of next year and that there is much to be considered before then. An Post states that its delivery office in Finglas, Dublin 11, will also be sharing the new facility which is being completed and purpose fitted at the North City Business Park in Dublin 11. An Post remains in consultation with its staff and unions on the details of the above moves. An Post further advises that it will facilitate the collection of missed mail in local post offices and parcel collection pick up at the post point outlets. An Post states that the move will have little day-to-day impact on local customers because the same postal workers will be delivering on the same local routes as before. An Post advises that it needs much larger premises and-or repurposed facilities to manage increased parcel volumes and to meet the future needs of the city and the changing needs of customers. An Post notes these new buildings also represent an improvement in working conditions for staff and make huge inroads in terms of sustainability around heating, lighting and the day-to-day operations of buildings like the new delivery hub. An Post advises that it is also hiring 300 additional postmen and postwomen across the country, some of whom will be working in this area, to manage the massive growth in volume. The Government is committed to a sustainable An Post. The post office network as a key component of the economic and social infrastructure throughout Ireland. The programme for Government states that the Government will continue to provide a nationwide network of post offices with funding to ensure their sustainability and to enhance the value they bring to local communities. The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport is working to deliver on this and an enhanced amount of €15 million per annum has been allocated for supporting the network, subject to all legal requirements being satisfied.

I appreciate the response. As I said, An Post is a semi-State company. This is one of the most frustrating things that has been done. I know it has been done across the globe. When it happens, a Minister can offload the issue to the regulator. That is done with the HSE and the NTA. I would love if that could be revoked in order that we could actually elect people who can make decisions rather than having unelected officials in every Department making them. I was in the Chair when the reply was given. I am not having a go at the Minister of State. I welcome the work he has done. I know he is covering for the Minister and is reading out the response that An Post supplied. The other two responses that An Post gave were nearly identical. The only thing that has changed is that the timeline has shifted from very much in the future, which was given to another Deputy in my constituency three weeks ago, to quarter 2 of next year. The Government cannot keep saying it has no statutory function, even though I accept that is the current legal position. However, a shareholder does have influence. Every shareholder has influence and the Government of Ireland should have influence over An Post. The idea that the company is a semi-State body but yet the State has zero influence on it makes no sense. Talk to my constituents before their services are uprooted. I hope the Minister of State will relay this to the Minister and that he, in turn, will relay it to An Post. An Post needs to speak to my constituents. I simply do not accept that a semi-State company cannot communicate with the service users of our national postal service. The people I represent are not asking for this not to be done; they are asking for the basic respect of being told the plan as to where they will collect their post, before the move is made as opposed to afterwards. I will continue to pursue this matter. The petition is still open and more people are signing it every day, because this was thrown at this community. We and the people of north Dublin need to know what is going to happen. I appreciate the Minister of State's engagement so far.

The point the Deputy makes is one that is being made about urban and rural Ireland by people across the country. An Post has been a very trusted brand over many years. As with everything, life evolves. There is a big challenge for An Post in the context of how the traditional mail delivery service has moved on in terms of the amount of mail being posted, but there has also been a huge uptick in parcel deliveries. It is very important that An Post is properly structured, not just in urban areas but also right across the country, because it is a huge brand that we have trust in. In order to ensure its future, very difficult decisions will have to be made. The Deputy made a fundamental point about the collection of undelivered parcels and so forth. There is the An Post network and then there are the post points which are dotted across the cities and urban and rural Ireland. These have to be a hugely integral part of how An Post delivers it services into the future. I am deviating slightly from the note I have been given, but I believe that An Post will have to evolve into the Ireland of 2026 and beyond as we go forward. With the network, brand and trust that An Post has, we need to ensure that is reachable for all urban and rural communities. An Post is expanding its operations and is recruiting over 300 postal staff. That is great to see, and it is hugely important that our semi-State company makes the right decisions in order to ensure that we deliver for the citizens of Ireland over the next number of years.

I take this opportunity to voice my frustration and that of thousands of people who live in north Kildare in the context of dealing with the semi-State body that is Uisce Éireann. Across the north of the county, from Leixlip all the way to Johnstownbridge and down to Naas, we regularly come across issues with Uisce Éireann. I want to deal with specific issues. We have issues in Leixlip where we get a consistent water burst near the Intel plant. Not a month goes by without a pipe bursting. Typically, it happens at around 6 p.m. on Fridays or at weekends. This means that we can be without water for 12 or 14 hours at a time and are reliant on contractors. Second, there are the low water levels at the reservoir in Allenwood. This affects Carbury, Kilmeage, Prosperous and all the other places in the area. Up to 15,000 people at time can be impacted. Third, I want to speak specifically about the issues in Celbridge. There has been low water pressure in the town for a number of years. Work is ongoing at Hazelhatch to alleviate the problem, which is a positive. At the same time, however, two huge construction projects are under way in Celbridge. I will speak specifically to the second of these. As Fine Gael's spokesperson on infrastructure and delivery and as vice chairman of the Oireachtas infrastructure committee, I welcome any water infrastructure upgrades that are happening for houses in my constituency. I am, however, frustrated by the speed at which those upgrades and infrastructure in general are being delivered and rolled out. I specifically refer to the towns of Prosperous and Staplestown in this regard, where Councillors Brendan Wyse and William Durkan are consistently raising this matter at council level. They are highlighting the impact that water levels are having and are not getting the answers they require from Uisce Éireann. As a result of low water levels at Allenwood reservoir, 15,000 people, typically the most vulnerable, are regularly impacted. We need a simple, clear explanation as to the cause of the recurring low water levels and outages at the reservoir, an explanation as to why residents frequently receive inadequate advance notice, clarification on whether current and projected housing development has outpaced existing water infrastructure capacity and, most of all, details of any short-, medium- or long-term infrastructure works or investment plans to resolve these issues. We want to develop and to build, but we want to ensure that we have the water infrastructure in place for the houses that are built. Information on contingency planning for future supplies is required. As I said, there are two water projects in train in Celbridge. People cannot get in and out of the town as a result of issues we are having with traffic. That is simply not good enough. The second of these projects relates to a new development of houses, which I obviously welcome, but the plan has been implemented in the wrong way at the wrong place, which means that the pipes are running down towards the main entrance into Celbridge. A public meeting was held. I was one of the only politicians present. We were informed as to what the impact would be. In the interim, we have had to change it a number of times with Uisce Éireann. That was not because Uisce Éireann came to us, it was because we went to Uisce Éireann. As already stated, in Leixlip, every six weeks without fail we have a burst along the main line, which many Deputies here will know, between Carton and Intel. This does not happen by accident. It happens because the water pressure comes. These bursts happen regularly. The matter needs to be resolved. This is something I highlighted when I was a councillor. It embarrasses me to raise it here as a TD. The people of Leixlip have been let down. They are frustrated. This not only impacts Leixlip, it also impacts Celbridge and Maynooth. That is why I raised both matters today in the form of a Topical Issue relating to Uisce Éireann.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am answering the issue on behalf of the Minister, James Browne, who sends his apologies as he cannot be here. As the Deputy knows, Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services and planning. Neither I nor the Minister have operational functions in respect of the matter. However, we have made inquiries with Uisce Éireann and have been informed that it is committed to solving and replacing the necessary section of the Maynooth-Leixlip mains water network and has a project in place to do so. Design challenges have arisen in the context of reinforcing the existing pipe and routing a replacement, all while maintaining the required capacity to meet demand on the network. Solutions are being investigated. In the interim, immediate steps have been taken to respond to bursts in the area and to manage supply interruptions as quickly as possible, such as ramping up out-of-hours repair crews and gearing up local stores to ensure urgent availability of materials required. Uisce Éireann is also working with businesses in the area to encourage and ensure on-site storage is in place to limit supply interruptions. Uisce Éireann acknowledges that a long-term solution is required. It is in the process of designing one. In County Kildare, there is a proposed investment of over €170 million in capital projects including the Celbridge and Maynooth leakage reduction programmes and Crodaun wastewater network upgrade that will address some of the most urgent infrastructure deficits, meet environmental obligations and support capacity for housing. It is important to note that Uisce Éireann is dealing with a legacy of underinvestment in water services and infrastructure across Ireland. The scale of the remedial work necessary in our water and wastewater systems will take a number of years and investment cycles to resolve. Uisce Éireann has delivered significant improvements in the provision of water services. Hundreds of water and wastewater treatment plants have been upgraded, thousands of kilometres of new or rehabilitated water mains have been installed, the national leakage rate has been reduced and the overall quality of drinking water remains very high. As part of its future investment plans, Uisce Éireann has brought together the water for growth programme, which is a comprehensive view of water supply and resilience projects in the eastern region, including parts of Kildare. This programme includes some 30 water projects at an estimated investment of €500 million in treatment plant upgrades, new trunk mains and strategic reservoirs to strengthen supply and support growth across the region. I know this is a matter in respect of which Deputy Neville has been advocating for some time, but Uisce Éireann is engaging in respect of some of the fundamental issues. I accept that more work needs to be done. Uisce Éireann assures us that it is meeting the many challenges that exist in the area to which the Deputy referred head-on as best it can. I will refer to that aspect in my closing remarks.

I thank the Minister for State. Unfortunately, I have heard a lot of that before - not from the Minister of State but from Uisce Éireann - during my time as a councillor and since I was elected as a TD. I raised this matter on Questions on Policy or Legislation with the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, on 30 April. That was three days after the pipe burst on 27 April. The kids at Confey Community College were here and, like many of their counterparts in the other schools in Leixlip, they were sent home. Last week, on 9 June, we had another outage. The water goes off a 6 p.m. and does not come back on until 3 a.m. It is gone all evening and most of the night. Children cannot be bathed. Elderly people do not have access to water. That is the reality of life in Leixlip. People can, within reason, estimate that every five or six weeks the water is going to go. We have Intel in Leixlip. The company employs 5,000 people. We know that we can build infrastructure. Infrastructure has been developed. One of the most technologically advanced semiconductor plants in the world is located there, but we have a pipe that bloody bursts every month, which leaves people without water. Breweries in the area are impacted. Other businesses and coffee shops cannot open as a result of the same issue. All we need to do is fix a pipe. As stated, I raised this matter when I was a councillor. I am raising it again as a TD. I do not want to be coming in here every month or six weeks to raise the same issue. This is about the basics. It is about people being able to have a shower. It is about being able to drink water. It is about the elderly people knowing that they can use their toilets. To be frank, it is not good enough. What Uisce Éireann said in the reply is simply not good enough. It has not been good enough for the past couple of years since it made the same reply to me when I was a councillor. Unfortunately, I will have to keep raising this matter until it is resolved. I do not want to hear excuses or about the plans, ideas, concepts or struggles Uisce Éireann is having because, frankly, its delivery in north Kildare across all areas has not been good enough. It needs to do much better.

I hear loud and clear the frustration in the Deputy's voice in relation to this issue. The points he made are very relevant. Water is a basic requirement for everyday living. The Deputy referred to children, adults and the elderly. Water is a fundamental aspect of everyday living. The Deputy also spoke about businesses and the frustration people have when the water is cut off. The challenge we have is when there is a commitment given that it will be back by 9 a.m. but does not come back until 2 p.m. the following day for whatever reason. People's livelihoods are being put at risk. The Deputy spoke about cafes and other businesses. I hear the frustration, and I know the first port of call for people is their local TD or councillor to ask what they are going to do about it. What the Deputy said about Leixlip in testimony to the fact that, as he outlined, what is happening is simply not good enough. I will take back what I have heard to the Department and to Uisce Éireann and, in the strongest possible terms, ask them to respond. While the Dáil is the forum in which to raise important issues such as those outlined by the Deputy, we still have to get responses from the statutory bodies. I will communicate the Deputy's frustration to the Minister, in the first instance, and to Uisce Éireann, which I will ask for an update. I do not just mean seeking a response that will come back in a week or ten days; I mean real action on what needs to be done in Leixlip. I assure the Deputy that we will relay what he said to those to whom I refer.

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.

I thank the Deputy. These are operational matters for Uisce Éireann but we have been making inquiries in relation to the issues the Deputy raised. I have been informed that works in Lusk have been undertaken between the junction to Hand's Lane and Minister's Road, along Minister's Road and Barrack Lane to the junction at Treen Hill and then Kelly Park. This is a targeted programme of works to strengthen the local water network at Kelly Park and Dun Emer in Lusk to replace old and fragile water mains. These works include laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers' property boundaries and connecting it to the customers' water supply. The project began back in March and work is expected to be completed this summer. Uisce Éireann tells us that very effort has been made to minimise disruption to residents and businesses during these works. Planned supply interruptions have been short in duration. However, the discovery of an undocumented branch off the water main led to unexpected interruptions. Further investigations are now required to map older sections of the network so that redundant sections of pipes can be closed off completely. Customers have been notified about this unavoidable disruption, which is essential to help Uisce Éireann to complete this important work to provide a more reliable and resilient water supply in the area. A contractor liaison officer is now in regular contact with the early years services, including visiting the business on Monday in advance of a planned interruption today, Thursday. An Uisce Éireann area inspector has also been in contact with the business and understands that limited storage is available on site. Uisce Éireann is offering the crèche owner the services of its first fix free scheme to establish if there is any leakage on the premises which may be affecting its storage capacity. The Kelly Park and Dun Emer areas are residential areas and it would not be possible to schedule future outages in the evenings or overnight. There are three more outages required to close out the project and Uisce Éireann is working to put in place a detailed programme which can then be communicated to key stakeholders to give more advance notice than normal. In regard to the correspondence we had on getting this question, the most frustrating piece is that where there are works going on, the communities do not know in advance. It can lead to huge frustration. I will take that back as well. There is no way that I can come in here and defend the lack of communication, which is basic. I will ask Uisce Éireann to look at other areas that could be looked at in respect of minimising the disruption, particularly to young people and young families.

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.

It is great to see Deputies welcoming their former teachers to the Gallery. They are very welcome and I hope they are enjoying their trip to Leinster House today. The investment is being put in to upgrade the pipe network. A lot of investigation has gone into the pipe network in this area, which is 50, 60 or possibly more years old. In a lot of the upgrading, particularly in urban Ireland, when Uisce Éireann digs down, it finds there are offshoots here and there. Then it finds that is where the leak is and why there was no water pressure. There has been unscheduled work here. As I understand it, Uisce Éireann had communicated what it was doing and the timeframe it was doing it in. Now with the extra unscheduled work, there are more difficulties but I will relay back to it what the Deputy has asked with regard to the crèche owners in particular. I will ensure there is full engagement with all the community. While Uisce Éireann is doing a major job in the area, it is important it would engage with all the businesses and householders in terms of leak reduction or anything else. Uisce Éireann is on site now and it should be using that time, fundamentally, to make sure the right things are done and we do not have to go back to it in the future. There was an added piece here and not just the original piece. However, families have had to make decisions on whether to take time off or take annual leave to take care of their children. That is hugely frustrating and it is not acceptable. As a matter of policy, Uisce Éireann, where disruptions are taking place, should always consider childcare facilities and schools to make sure they are communicated with in timely manner.

I realise this is the third Topical Issue out of five relating to Irish Water. I cannot say I am surprised, although they are different issues. I feel obliged to come here this evening to relay the concerns of the residents of Courtbrack, outside Blarney. There is an issue happening with their water supply for some time. I have all of the emails here from Irish Water. There are pages and pages of them and it thanks me for my representation and hopes it has provided clarity and answered all the queries of the residents. Nothing could be further from the truth . Somewhere, buried beneath all of those pages, there are little bits of information. The reality here is people want to know when they will have a safe drinking water supply at home. I know the Minister of State will be familiar with Courtbrack. People are spending €400,000 and €500,000 on new houses. They do not really have broadband. It is improving but it is still behind where it should be. You cannot get a phone signal except via the Internet, so it is a chicken-and-egg situation. There is light at the end of the tunnel with that because they have been told broadband will be provided by a certain period of time. They have absolutely no faith whatsoever in the service provision from Irish Water or when they will have a safe drinking water supply. They have been on a boil water notice for some time. I know the Minister of State will tell me in his response that it predates Irish Water and it inherited this. The key question I have is why in Christ's name did Irish Water take charge of this when it knew - I have it here in the various emails - the water plant was problematic? It is said it is below par and the conditions they would set. I do not understand why they would take charge of it and not compel the developer at the time to stump up before they took charge of it to improve the facility that was there. That is one thing I would like answered. I know the Minister of State probably does not have that answer. I know the Minister of State has responsibility for special education and, God love him, he is in here answering questions about water. I know the statutory responsibility for the provision of water, be it operational, infrastructure or servicing, lies with Uisce Éireann and not with the Minister himself. I am not the first person to come in here cribbing about the quality of water or the conduct of Irish Water but there is a statutory obligation on it to provide water. If it is not meeting its statutory obligations, it is incumbent on the Minister to intervene. That is not just in the case of Courtbrack - it is in dozens and dozens of locations across the country. I do not want to be parochial about it but in my own constituency, the wastewater situation in Carrignavar sees raw sewage seeping into the river. It is three times overloaded. We were told it would be seven to ten years, at best, before it gets an upgrade. There are big HGV lorries and tankers going through a new housing estate in Whitechurch just to service the existing requirement. Guess what? We will zone more land in the next development plan for more houses without having an adequate water supply in Whitechurch. Knockraha is an old chestnut of mine and is in my parish. I am totally despondent at this stage because it is happening for 15 years. Raw sewage is being pumped into a nearby landowner's field. Whether Irish Water likes it or not, it has a statutory responsibility. It is failing to adhere to that. If the State does not do it, I encourage people up and down the country to meet Irish Water in the courts and make sure it is responsible for enforcing that statutory obligation it has. I am sorry for the rant since the Minister of State has responsibility for special education but I get that he gets this frustration as well and not just from my part of the country.

I thank the Deputy. Three out of five of the Topical Issues have been about Irish Water. I know the Deputy has been talking about Courtbrack and other communities in his constituency for quite some time. In the correspondence we had in the past half hour or so, it covered three constituencies in Kildare, Dublin and Cork, so we can see the frustration of Members about Irish Water, the challenges that are being faced and how we will overcome them. Fundamentally, the availability of water and wastewater treatment plants is one of the most important resources we have to be able to develop further into the future. Over many decades, we have seen as a country the challenges with economic prosperity, but this is one of the key things. I am deviating from the question I was asked but I see the frustration of Members here today and the frustration of Members from across the country. I could turn back and talk about a number of communities I represent and the frustrations I have with it. Irish Water is the statutory body. It has taken charge of this plant. As I understand it, the plant was taken over in January of this year and it was not fit for purpose. It was one of those developer-provided pieces of infrastructure going back a number of years. It is important that we understand the challenges that are there. They are on a boil water notice and the information I have is that, since taking over the operation, Uisce Éireann has been carrying out technical and detailed operational assessments of the plant to determine the works required to ensure a safe and secure water supply to enable the boil water notice to be lifted. Uisce Éireann has now completed the initial scoping work and the first phase of remedial works has now commenced on site. These works are focused on upgrading and improving the existing plant. Uisce Éireann expects to have greater clarity on timelines as these works progress. Once the outcome of this first phase of the remedial works is fully assessed, the impact will inform the need for any subsequent phases of work, if required, which will ultimately guide the approach to resolving the issues at the plant. Given the importance of protecting public health, this process must be thorough and evidence-based. In parallel to these shorter-term improvement works, Uisce Éireann is also progressing the assessment of a longer term rationalisation option. This would provide a more permanent solution but is subject to all necessary planning, environmental and regulatory consenting processes. If the short-term works successfully address the issues at the plant, the need for this longer term project will be reviewed. The boil water notice remains in place and will continue until such time as it is safe to lift, based on the outcomes of the ongoing works. The assessment that Uisce Éireann is doing should be completed in a timely fashion so that we can move forward with confidence that the boil water notice can be lifted. There is a bigger issue with it as well. Even if the short-term issues are resolved, Uisce Éireann should not forget about the long-term issues either. I will relay the Deputy's frustration to both the Department and Uisce Éireann again and ask them to complete the remedial work in as short a timeframe as possible.

I thank the Minister of State. That is more or less the same answer I got in all of these emails so it is not surprising. The Minister of State knows the score and I know the score. Most people here know the standard of responses we get from Irish Water. I do not think it is too much to ask on behalf of residents, especially if the Minister will make representations on this and I will talk to him myself about it, what specific remedial works are being referenced? The Minister of State read in the answer that Irish Water will carry out remedial works. Tell us what they are. Will it screen the water? Will it add more chemicals? Will it fix pipes? Will it lay new pipes? Is there a problem with manganese, like there is in other parts of the city? Tell us what specific interventions it is making because I received that broad strokes answer of it doing remedial works and scoping. but it is not telling us the fine detail of what it is doing, bit by bit. Irish Water is saying there are remedial works currently under way. Tell us when they will be done. When will we have a timeline for when that initial phase will be done? From what Irish Water is saying, it will see how successful the short-term interventions are. Depending on the degree of success, it might do another longer term intervention. Tell us what that is as well. Tell us what the criteria is. Tell us the standard. Tell us what the threshold is for making that decision. Most fundamentally, Courtbrack is a lovely rural village to live. A lot of people have moved out there from the city in particular. They spent a lot of money on their houses. I have already outlined the deficit in services, but at the same time it is not too much to ask that the residents get direct updates from Irish Water. They are coming to representatives like me to get updates or they are approaching fellas as they see them who are doing these remedial works and they are getting little tidbits information when they need something. If you are without water for the best part of a year, the very least that Irish Water should be doing for those people is giving them clear information. My final point is about the statutory requirement. This is happening in hundreds of locations across the country. Whether they like it or not, or whether they were handed a mess or not, they have a statutory obligation and a need to come clean with that and to give people what they are entitled to, which is safe drinking water.

I thank the Deputy. He has heard all the official answers in relation to what is being done. What he needs to do is to have clear sight of what that is, what that means in simple English, what screening and what work is going on, what levels they have to reach, and what stage they are at. I will endeavour to get sight of the remedial works Uisce Éireann is doing and also what they are considering in the long term. Whatever about the remedial works that are to be done here, the long-term issues have to be put out as well for Courtbrack and all those communities. Irish Water is engaging now with the Courtbrack community and it should not be allowed take its sight off it. It should complete the work it is doing on the remedial work in getting the water fit to lift the boiled-water notice and then on top of that to come back and say what the project will be over the next while. It should not just long-finger it but make sure what it is in the short-term. The least we want is to have the water systems fit for purpose. I will endeavour to ask both the Department and Uisce Éireann for concise, direct and informative information in relation to what they are doing in Courtbrack, what the timelines are on it and when they hope they can reach those targets and timelines. I will endeavour to get that information for the Deputy from the Department and Uisce Éireann and forward it to him.

I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this Topical Issue. It relates to the national child poverty target. Social Justice Ireland tells us that there are 211,150 children at risk of poverty. Crucially, this figure does not take account of the household spend on accommodation. Two adults working on a low income or the minimum wage do not earn enough to live decently, and neither can they bring their kids up on that money. The MESL report, which was out this morning, tells us that older children, aged 12 and older, in households headed by single adults have the greatest risk of deep income inadequacy if they are dependent on social welfare. This has been true consistently and we have heard it consistently. Single-adult households make up over half of the deep inadequacy cases. Households with one older child of 12 and over account for 94% of those cases. I do not need to tell the Minister of State that kids are expensive; we know this. People who are living in poverty or at risk of poverty are doing their best to try to manage but it is getting impossible for them. We know that the Department of Social Protection and the child poverty unit in the Department of the Taoiseach have chosen a figure to measure that does not include accommodation costs. When we compare poverty rates among renters without housing supports, before the impact of housing costs on their disposable income is taken into account, 20.5% are at risk of poverty. After housing costs, this becomes 42.6%. That is more than double. Even more worryingly, the 22% of supported renters in poverty jumps to 58% once housing costs are accounted for. The Minister of State and I both know that direct cash transfers in the form of additional child benefit, or whatever way the Government wants to dress it up, have been recommended by the ESRI and others as the most effective way to reduce child poverty. Plain and simple, the Government did not commit enough money to the issue of child poverty to make serious progress towards its target. For years the targets have been set and we know they have been missed. The truth about child poverty exists in those homes where parents are earning but they are paying extortionate childcare rates, for really massive rents or their mortgage has increased, or they are forking out for devices, which are going far ahead of free school books. They are paying energy bills that are among the highest in Europe. I am interested to know what progress is being made to reach the Government's target, but I am also interested to know if it is interested in what the real picture is. The real picture exists when you take into account accommodation costs. If you do not take accommodation costs into account you are missing the picture and therefore will always miss the target. If you are not measuring it properly you will not be able to resolve it. We know from the MESL report that home energy costs have risen by 24.9% in the last year and doubled since 2020. Home heating oil, included in the rural MESL basket, has risen by 72.4% in the last year. That is 186.8% compared to 2020. These are all really serious factors which are impacting. The Children's Rights Alliance tells us that between 24 and 25 there has been an increase in the proportion of individuals living in consistent poverty and experiencing food deprivation. There is an awful lot of talk about a social media ban for children under 16 years of age and I am very concerned that this is acting as a distraction from what is really happening. There are kids who will fall through the cracks because the Government's target is based on figures that are not real figures because they do not take accommodation into account.

To take the last point first before I go into it. Not to take it in isolation, that is a completely separate issue. Reducing child poverty is a key aspect of Government policy. The Government has been working on this and understands it. In September 2025, the Government agreed a new target to reduce the child consistent poverty rate to 3% or less by 2030. While an ambitious target, in setting this rate, the Government was clear that no level of child poverty is acceptable, and this is reflected in the programme for Government. The Department of the Taoiseach's child poverty and well-being programme office continues to lead and drive this important work and break down silos across Government. It has developed a dashboard of indicators to complement this target and to measure child poverty across health, housing, education, early learning and other indicators. As a developed economy, poverty in Ireland is measured on a relative rather than an absolute basis. A risk of poverty is assessed by comparing a person's income to the average income in society. As a relatively high-income country, this means that some households assessed as experiencing poverty in Ireland might not be considered so in other EU countries. Nevertheless, as we are committed to reducing poverty, it is important to retain this approach. Moreover, the consistent poverty measure that we use is unique to Ireland and captures those both at risk of relative poverty and who self-report deprivation. The Government was pleased to see a reduction in the CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions, SILC, 2025 rate of child consistent poverty, from 8.5% in 2024 to 7.8% in 2025. This reduction reflects the impact of Government measures to date. The SILC data has a time lag and is based on income from 2024. It therefore does not yet reflect the 2025 budget and the very significant budget 2026 measures. Despite this, we fully recognise that much more needs to be done to reduce child poverty and to deliver on our target by the end of 2030. This requires sustained cross-government investment and commitment over many years. Budget 2026 reflected this commitment, with €320 million allocated to the Department to address child poverty. Significant measures included record increases in the child support payment, higher working family payment thresholds, broader access to the fuel allowance and the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, and an expansion of the hot school meals programme. These build on important programmes already under way that work to reduce child poverty, such as free schoolbooks, free GP visit cards and early childhood supports. While existing targeted income supports, including the child support payment and the working family payment, are effective at tackling child poverty, the Department of Social Protection is exploring reforms to both the working age and the child income supports. A public consultation on this concluded recently. Reflecting the need for a multidimensional approach, work continues right across Government in other key areas such as housing, employment, childcare, education and health to address child poverty. The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2026-2030 outlines many of these actions, with the aim of achieving our target by the end of the decade.

I do not want to seem ungrateful for the Minister of State's reply but he has said things like, as a relatively high-income country, some households assessed as experiencing poverty in Ireland might not be considered so in other EU countries. They are not paying rent or buying groceries in any other EU country, are they? They are doing all that there. If they are in relative poverty, they are in relative poverty. There is no point telling them they would be well-off if they were living in Spain. They do not live there; they live here. As I said, I do not want to seem ungrateful for the reply but I personally would have been embarrassed to read that out. The Minister of State referenced the SILC data and the time lag. That is important because these findings are based on incomes in 2024. We all know what happened in 2024. There was an election and, in the run-in to that election, there were energy supports and all sorts of other things. That is all gone now. When the SILC data catches up, it will reflect the fact that energy supports have been withdrawn and that people in this State are paying some of the highest energy prices in Europe. Moreover, families who are living in poverty are more likely to be on pay-as-you-go meters. I am sure the Minister of State sees this in his constituency office just as I do in mine. Those people are paying even higher rates. It is very expensive to be poor in this State. The SILC data also does not include accommodation costs. That is huge. There are people on ordinary wages who work really hard. If we are making comparisons with other EU countries, in any other EU country, they would be able to expect to go on a holiday or to have a few bob on a Friday night. All of that is gone. They are just paying their rent. Their kids are paying the price for the Government's failure to act on child poverty.

The CSO surveys are hugely important as a basis on which to measure poverty. The investment the Government has made over the past number of budgets, not just those for 2024 and 2025 but also for 2026, and the social protection measures we have put in place, show that not just the Department of Social Protection but all Government Departments are very conscious of child poverty. We are very conscious of the long-term impacts on those children. We are trying to give them the best possible opportunity. You only get one childhood. My Department and Departments right across Government, particularly the Department of Social Protection, are making sure that we are investing as much as possible into capturing the reasons for child poverty. We are investing to make sure we are giving children the best possible opportunities. The CSO documentation and the data we get through the survey on income and living conditions are hugely important in framing Government policy. This is driven from the Department of the Taoiseach to ensure we are doing everything that can be done across Government to tackle child poverty. I assure all Deputies in the House that we understand. We know that, when you meet parents and families who are experiencing child poverty, you can have all the statistics in the world but you need to be able to point to something that can get them from where they are to where they would like to be or to at least give them a roadmap. Everyone wants the best for their families. This is something that every one of us experiences. The Government is working extremely hard to tackle child poverty. We have seen reductions in the indicators over the last number of years.