‘Abysmal failure’ — Tipperary calls to disband Uisce Éireann grow
Uisce Éireann has again come under fire in Tipperary, with one councillor branding the utility an “abysmal failure” and another urging all 40 county councillors to support a motion calling for its disbandment.
The criticism emerged during June’s meeting of Tipperary County Council, where councillors from across the chamber voiced frustration over ongoing outages and boil water notices.
The debate started when independent councillor for Cahir Andy Moloney raised the issue of outages at the Goatenbridge Water Treatment Plant, which has seen €10million invested in it over the last number of years.
“We’re after spending millions and millions in the Goatenbridge plant, but a number of weeks ago, parts of the town of Cahir had no water for three days solid, and then after that we had outages in Ardfinnan and the supply to Clerihan was gone too, and it’s not good enough.
“We all thought the investment would end our problems, but obviously, there’s still a problem. So I’m asking the question, is there a man power problem? Is there a call-out problem? Because there’s nobody answering the call when the bell goes off, so there’s a break down somewhere along the line,” Cllr Moloney said.
Agreeing with Cllr Moloney’s calls, fellow-Cahir based councillor Máirín McGrath called the utility an “abysmal failure”.
“It’s unbelievable what’s going on and what people in the Cahir area and south of that, as far as Red City in Fethard and Clerihan are dealing with, it beggars belief.
“We’re so frustrated and the residents and the business people just can’t operate. A hairdresser continuously has to close down, they can’t sustain a business because Uisce Éireann are unanswerable. We really need some thorough engagement with Uisce Éireann, they are an abysmal failure,” Cllr McGrath hit out.
Sinn Féin councillor Annemarie Ryan said that her area of Tipperary town had been on a boil water notice since February, and couldn’t get any answers from Uisce Éireann as to when it would be lifted.
“I can safely say that Tipperary town tops the agenda here, we have had a boil water notice since the start of February. Coupled with that, we have a continuous reduction in pressure in the evening times to allow the reservoir to refill overnight.
“It’s impacting on nursing homes and businesses. I agree with Cllr McGrath and I know the council can’t do anything, but that’s the problem, at least when Uisce Éireann was with the local authority we had a much better service,” Cllr Ryan said.
Cllr Micheál Anglim said that the Goatenbridge and Ardfinnan areas shouldn’t still have water issues after €10million was spent upgrading the plant.
Sinn Féin councillor David Dunne said that if TDs in Tipperary couldn’t get answers from Uisce Éireann, what hope do councillors have?
“Recently, a TD stood up in the Dáil and asked the Tánaiste about Uisce Éireann and accountability, and the Tánaiste agreed with him that there’s no accountability, that it was shocking that they couldn’t get answers as TDs.
“How are we meant to get answers as councillors if a TD can’t get answers from Uisce Éireann?” Cllr Dunne asked.
“It’s time now that we all put down the one motion and disband Uisce Éireann, and put water services back into the hands of the council, over a period of time,” he added.
In a statement to the Irish Independent, a representative from Uisce Éireann acknowledged the difficulties posed by water outages and boil water notices.
“The recent boil water notice affecting customers supplied by the Ardfinnan Regional Water Supply, which has been in place since June 7, was implemented to protect public health following a deterioration in raw water quality after heavy rainfall,” they said.
“The raw water source from the Knockmealdown Mountains is particularly vulnerable to changing weather conditions, which can impact treatment processes,” they added.
Pointing to the investment in the Goatenbridge Water Treatment Plant, the utility said that work is underway, but that “operational challenges” can arise during the project.
“However, these are outweighed by the long-term benefits these works will deliver for customers and communities served by the Ardfinnan Regional Water Supply,” the representative said.
In relation to the Tipperary town boil water notice, Uisce Éireann said that a new raw water supply for the town was required, and work is ongoing to address this.
“The only long-term solution to lift the Boil Water Notice is the development of a new source. This project has been accelerated with exploratory drilling to secure a new raw water source and future supply for Tipperary town, now underway,” they explained.
“This new source is necessary due to structural damage to one of the boreholes supplying Cordangan Water Treatment Plant, which has impacted the quality of the raw water.
“Hydrogeological assessments are complete, and landowner engagement is ongoing. The exploratory drilling will assist in assessments of the volume of water available and the groundwater quality. This will ensure the most reliable long-term source of raw water is selected to supply Uisce Éireann customers in Tipperary Town and the surrounding areas,” they added.