Businesses ‘considering leaving Tipperary’ amid water outage ‘chaos’
A Tipperary TD has called on the Government to intervene in what he has called the “systemic” failures relating to water outages across the county.
Independent TD Mattie McGrath said that Uisce Éireann have created chaos in Tipperary, accusing the company of “sabotage”.
"A 10-inch main that had reliably served half of Clonmel for over two decades was deliberately disconnected, leaving the town reliant on a weaker supply with no backup. That’s not progress, it’s sabotage,” Deputy McGrath told the Dáil.
"Uisce Éireann has dismantled a functioning system and replaced it with chaos,” he hit out.
He also expressed concern that former council staff who know the water network are not being consulted.
"These are men who know every inch of the system. Instead of being consulted, they’re being ignored, transferred, or pressured into a company they have no confidence in. Their expertise is being discarded, and the public is paying the price. We have people in charge who don’t have a clue and don’t seem to care.
"I can’t meet engineers who understand the system but can meet executive after executive who talk about investment but don’t understand the workings on the ground,” he said.
"In the past, local council water staff would physically inspect and clean screens during heavy rainfall. Now we’re waiting on a computer to send a message to someone causing unnecessary delays and what we get is Boil water notices, dirty water, and outages,” the Tipperary South TD said.
A manufacturing company is considering relocating out of Clonmel due to repeated water outages, while Tipperary University Hospital ran out of water for the first time in its history and required emergency water tankers, according to Deputy McGrath.
“Uisce Éireann is accountable to no one, not to the public, not to elected representatives, and certainly not to the people whose livelihoods depend on clean, reliable water. We hear buzzwords like ‘resilience’ and ‘upgrades’, but what we’re seeing is incompetence and neglect.
"Uisce Éireann is unfit for purpose. Until there is transparency and accountability, more businesses, and more jobs will be put at risk. I will continue to raise this issue until the people of Clonmel and South Tipperary receive the safe, reliable water supply they are entitled to,” Deputy McGrath added.
The utility has previously said that upgrades in Clonmel are aimed at improving long-term reliability.
"These upgrades are vital steps towards ensuring that Clonmel’s water infrastructure is fit for the future—strengthening supply and providing the reliability that the town needs,” Darragh Hannon, programme manager at Uisce Éireann said.