Water Services
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Fiona O'Loughlin (FF), Administrative Panel

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, is welcome to the Chamber.
In north-west Kildare - I am particularly talking about Cappanargid, Lullymore into Allenwood, around Robertstown, Caragh and so on - there have been huge issues with water shortages. People have signed up to get communications if the water is going to be turned off, as a managed turn-off. People are not getting that information at all or they are getting it four hours late. In the past week, the water has been turned off five times in that area.
This is quite a rural area. People are living on their own, including elderly people. People have small babies and they do not have access to water in this very warm weather. Some people can go quite easily to the shops to get water - that is a big expense - but many cannot get to the shops because they are older or vulnerable for different reasons. It got so bad that some individuals rang "Liveline" yesterday to talk about it. Everyone was aghast about the reality on the ground.
The lack of water is a huge problem, but the communication around it is particularly difficult. Uisce Éireann is issuing press releases about it and they are not worth the paper they are written on. There is wrong information, miscommunication and there have been strong rumours. I spoke to two local councillors, Daragh Fitzpatrick and Brian O'Loughlin. They are getting different information as well. One individual who works with Uisce Éireann told one of the councillors that the water is being turned off at the reservoir at Allenwood to protect areas of higher population. If that is the case, it is absolutely wrong. We need to have honest communication to be clear about what is happening and why and timely information needs to be given.
There was a situation last week where tankers of water came out at 8 a.m. It is always helpful to get tankers if there is no water, but people were told the water would be on from 9 a.m. without a shadow of a doubt. What happened? It did not come on. Therefore, the order to send out the tankers was correct, because there was not going to be water, but people were getting the wrong information all over again. People can make plans if they get the information in a timely way.
I had put this Commencement matter in for Tuesday, but on Tuesday morning, I met a lady from the Hillsborough area in Newbridge who spoke to me about similar problems there. That is why I added it to today's Commencement matter. In Newbridge, there are particular issues with low pressure. People are trying to have showers, particularly in this hot weather, when they come in from work and are not able to do so because the pressure is so low. Generally speaking, it is bad news all around south-west Kildare and Newbridge. We need to know what is going on. Is there any light at the end of the tunnel? We need to know what is happening and how it will be remedied.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28