Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-05
============================================================

Michael Collins (II), Cork South-West

As the Tánaiste said, answers and engagement from Uisce Éireann to Oireachtas Members is a non-goer. Any improvements there would be greatly welcomed because we are pulling the hair out of our heads to get responses for our communities. I do agree with the developer-led scheme he referred to because that is the only way we are going to deliver.
I do, however, believe that people deserve pay increases too. I am not standing on this side of the House saying absolutely not, but how can I explain how this Government sought to reward the CEO of Uisce Éireann with a rise of 47% when others on the breadline got nothing? How can I tell the people of Adrigole, who were forced to close their crèche as they are two days without mains water and experienced 16 breaks since last June, that Uisce Éireann is looking after them or the people of Ballinascarthy and Shannonvale who went without water at Christmas or the people of Goleen, Ballydehob, Rosscarbery, Dunmanway and Shannonvale who are waiting decades for upgrades to their wastewater tanks? They never get any updates as to what is happening and when it is going to happen. How can I tell Councillor Noel Thomas in Galway that the new wastewater treatment plant in Connemara will deliver across to Carraroe, Costello, Tully and Ros an Mhíl? I cannot as Uisce Éireann has become untouchable and non-contactable on its road to non-delivery, but shamefully this Government saw fit to give the CEO a 47% pay rise without a shred of accountability. It is little wonder that the Government refused Independent Ireland's motion on timelines and accountability.
Simply put, it stinks. It stinks to the high heavens.

---

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/dail/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05