Uisce Éireann is out of control and appears to be answerable to nobody. If the public was made fully aware of the loss of water through leaks across the country, it would be astonished. As a councillor in the past and as a TD since I was elected to this august House, I have had to deal with Irish Water on a number of issues. One leak that comes to mind was where a pipe in Wexford town was losing 10,000 litres of water per hour. After years of contact with Uisce Éireann, it was resolved - but only after years. I dealt with another single pipe in Coolballow, Wexford town, that had 52 leaks in 18 months, with constant patching after patching. There were years of campaigning before the pipe was replaced. Nothing has changed. Twenty-six years ago, the late councillor Paddy Nolan in Wexford town raised the issue of raw sewage leaking from a large pipe in his home area of Maudlintown. It is still leaking raw sewage today. It has never been touched and no attempt has been made to resolve it. These are just a couple of examples in a small area, so Deputies can imagine the scale of the problem out there. Then we have the issue of hard water for consumers in Wexford town and areas south of it. People are being forced to pay huge sums to treat the water and to replace the appliances that are constantly being damaged, including kettles, showers, dishwashers and washing machines. The whole area of connection charges is astounding. Some instances I have dealt with over the years border on criminal. Blackwater GAA club faced a demand for €46,000 to connect to a fire hydrant. Ballagh Boxing Club, with 25 members, was asked for €19,000 for a water connection to its modular build unit. Community groups doing amazing work are getting pinned to the canvas by a State utility company. Only highlighting by myself and others got these issues somewhat resolved. However, when the owner of a new single house built in the heart of Wexford town was forced to pay €33,000 for a single connection for a single one-off house, Uisce Éireann stood firm in its ridiculous demands. Community groups and citizens are being screwed by Uisce Éireann because of the lack of investment by this and previous Governments.

Sentiment score: -0.12