I have listened with interest to all the comments throughout the day. If there is anyone from Irish Water listening, I will not take from their woes or suggest it is better than what has been suggested. However, I preface my remarks by saying my engagement with the Irish Water representatives on the ground, when it comes to dealing with local, small issues, has been quite positive. That is against the background that I know these individuals and I respect them hugely for their speedy responses in times of need. I want to bring to the attention of the Minister of State a situation that is ongoing for quite some time. A lovely, elderly lady, a widow, had a water connection from a group water scheme for donkey's years - 20 odd years. She lives on the outskirts of Tuam and has a modest bungalow. As a consequence of the way things progressed, the group water scheme transferred that asset over to Uisce Éireann, upon which she discovered a chronic lack of water pressure, so much so - and we are not getting glorious summers or anything like that - that each time there was any kind of pressure on the system, whether from extreme frost, very warm temperatures or water leakages, that poor lady had to climb into the attic to fill the tank so she could have the dignity of having a shower. I find it unbelievable to think that in 2025, that lady finds herself in a scenario like that. Let me fast forward. In my previous role as a local representative on Galway County Council, I brought her situation and plight to the attention of water services. It is fair to say they had a lot of sympathy for her and did their utmost to identify what the problems were and how they could be resolved, and I respect them for that. The lady herself was very pleased the officials met her and promised her something would happen. What was to happen, however, was that the water services were to engage with the representatives of Irish Water and Irish Water was to put it into its capital plan - in other words, bring a new connection from the main road to her bungalow, a distance of roughly 120 m. That is a brand spanking new connection and it would not require even a road crossing. It would require a road-opening licence and would bring a new two-inch water service past her house. That would service the family house, her son's house across the road. There is also an agriculture connection. Irish Water, however, in its wisdom - I do not know why - has decided that this is not its responsibility because it has inherited this asset. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place. I have an email the poor lady sent me on 20 February pleading that something be done about her situation. We are all very much aware of how challenging things were in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, when we had to find alternative sources of water. That was temporary; it was a couple of days. For this poor family, however, this poor woman, it is every single day of the week and every day of the year. There must be some mechanism whereby Irish Water can prioritise or look sympathetically, on a humanitarian level, at her situation. This requires this poor woman to get a water connection in order that she can function and her house can have the benefit of a shower, whether it be pump or electric. That is a gospel-true story; it is not made up.

Sentiment score: 0.13

I will, and I genuinely thank the Minister of State for his compassion, but the reason I am saying this and bringing this true story to the House is that this is replicated in many other cases right around the county. This woman has water but may as well have none because she would be ten times better off going outside her back door or her front door, bringing in gallons of water and putting it into the attic in the first place in order that she can have a functioning shower. Going back to a lot of the commentary all day, I have spoken in this House at least twice in recent times about the deficits in Irish Water's investment in infrastructure, wastewater and water supply. There are many cases and many villages - I will not repeat what I said two weeks ago - that are ripe for developing. We do not have investment by Irish Water to provide sewage treatment facilities in order that those communities can grow. On a bigger scale, however, and this is really concerning, is an executive summary by An Taisce with regard to the deficits in wastewater in our city. I have it with me, not that anyone wants to hear about it or see it. Of course, most people from east Galway who have a job commute into the city for that purpose. In 2007, An Taisce established that one of three pipes, the larger of the three, was ultimately taking the water from east of the city and Oranmore across to Mutton Island. For those people who would not understand the geography, Mutton Island is just off the coast of Galway. An Taisce discovered that the larger of the pipes was at risk of collapsing. That was in 2007, and here we are today in 2025, when there is a greater demand and, one might say, greater pressure in terms of what has to be transported from the city. There is an acknowledgment there. An Taisce has said this; it is public knowledge. Really and truly, whether one is in east Galway or in Galway city or anywhere else on the island of Ireland, there are chronic deficits that need to be bridged. From where I am standing and as I have said before, most of the haemorrhaging in terms of providing housing is because of the lack of that basic infrastructure. Who funds Irish Water? That is the question that needs to be asked. Has it done an inventory as to what is required county by county to service the current and projected housing needs in our county? I am not so sure that exercise would be available to us if Irish Water were asked for it. Until such time as we have an inventory of what is underground, whether it be malfunctioning, defective or in need of repair, and the projected numbers with regard to housing delivery, we will not really be able to forecast how many people we have to make provision for in terms of housing for the future. I do not envy the Minister of State his job at all. There have been a lot of concerns and there has been a lot of criticism of Irish Water and the deficits and maybe the deficiencies within what it is doing and providing. I have had some lovely experiences where I got an immediate response from the guys on the ground. However, sending an email to Irish Water HQ and expecting a speedy response is a horse of a different colour entirely. You will not be afforded the dignity or the privilege of getting that. That is pretty much it. I do not want to add any more to that. An awful lot of contributions have been made all day long. The first story I told the Minister of State was a real one. The second one is a real county crisis and a county pressure. That information I share with him comes from a reputable source and is beyond dispute.

Sentiment score: 0.03