Irish Water and Water Quality: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2025-11-19 ============================================================ Noel O'Donovan (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach While I support all my colleagues from the Galway area, it is no harm to move the conversation southwards to the rebel county. Like other speakers, there has been some repetition in the praise of the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Browne, for bringing proposals to the Cabinet recently, which they are implementing. In my time in this Chamber, the proposal for private developer-led wastewater infrastructure is one of the most common-sense pragmatic solutions I have seen. I genuinely compliment the Minister of State's work on that. It is going to be a game changer. I welcome the fact that there is going to be a buy-in between the local authorities and the EPA in the construction of these plants to ensure they are taken in charge when they are completed. We have to learn the lessons from the past in that regard. That is also a pragmatic approach. When we announced the news that we would develop these plants going forward, I received a number of calls from residents living in estates with plants that have not been taking in charge. It is a timely reminder of that. I share some of the views expressed by Senator Rabbitte on ensuring local authorities have the same vision and plan. It is critical that there is a common design, with one circular going to local authorities. I have mentioned to the Minister of State in the past that we have an issue in Dunmanway in west Cork with the plant. We now have possibilities, with the development of these private developer-led plants. The planning authority is unwilling to engage with developers with single applicants that are wanting to build at this stage. That is where we need to take local authorities to task in terms of now engaging as well. Let us be straight about this: there is a breakdown between Uisce Éireann and certain local authorities. Politicians, the Government and others across the board are getting the blame for that. We need to see change there. I wish to raise a number of other wastewater infrastructure issues across west Cork because these are the issues we are hearing. In Shannonvale, we have historic issues. In Rosscarbery, the town where I live, and Ballydehob we have septic tanks and glorified septic tanks that release into the sea and cause Armageddon-type scenarios during the summer months along much of our coastline. It is important that we do not forget about the plants that need upgrading. The emphasis is on increasing the number of houses and the number of areas where we can build, but we cannot lose sight of areas where there are clear pollution issues as well. To Senator Kyne's point, we are investing all this money, over €12 billion, in Uisce Éireann but we need to see the plan. We need clear communication on where this money is being invested. I recall in my time on Cork County Council that once a quarter, the council would present to the western division meeting a clear list of the projects it was engaged in and give updates on where those plants were. Sometimes there were no updates or a minor update, but we knew those projects were on a list somewhere and there was an update given. Today, as public representatives - councillors, Senators, TDs and Ministers - we have to write to a Minister's office or pick up the phone and go through an Oireachtas line to Uisce Éireann. There is no single place where we can get timely and updated information on where these plants are. For the Government, the State and taxpayers, having invested this money, it would be beneficial if Uisce Éireann improved its communication. We are in 2025. There should be a website where we can log on and see where the upgrade is on this. Last Friday night, I and more than 100 people who cannot get access to reliable, quality water attended a meeting in Ardigole on the Beara Peninsula. There are schools, family resource centres and people with disabilities being affected by breaks in mains. We need improved communication. We need to make sure that this delivery of funding reaches our communities. Again, I thank the Minister of State for his work. It is so vitally important. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-11-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:20+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-11-19