Water Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-18
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Joe Neville (FG), Kildare North

I take this opportunity to voice my frustration and that of thousands of people who live in north Kildare in the context of dealing with the semi-State body that is Uisce Éireann. Across the north of the county, from Leixlip all the way to Johnstownbridge and down to Naas, we regularly come across issues with Uisce Éireann. I want to deal with specific issues. We have issues in Leixlip where we get a consistent water burst near the Intel plant. Not a month goes by without a pipe bursting. Typically, it happens at around 6 p.m. on Fridays or at weekends. This means that we can be without water for 12 or 14 hours at a time and are reliant on contractors.
Second, there are the low water levels at the reservoir in Allenwood. This affects Carbury, Kilmeage, Prosperous and all the other places in the area. Up to 15,000 people at time can be impacted.
Third, I want to speak specifically about the issues in Celbridge. There has been low water pressure in the town for a number of years. Work is ongoing at Hazelhatch to alleviate the problem, which is a positive. At the same time, however, two huge construction projects are under way in Celbridge.
I will speak specifically to the second of these. As Fine Gael's spokesperson on infrastructure and delivery and as vice chairman of the Oireachtas infrastructure committee, I welcome any water infrastructure upgrades that are happening for houses in my constituency. I am, however, frustrated by the speed at which those upgrades and infrastructure in general are being delivered and rolled out. I specifically refer to the towns of Prosperous and Staplestown in this regard, where Councillors Brendan Wyse and William Durkan are consistently raising this matter at council level. They are highlighting the impact that water levels are having and are not getting the answers they require from Uisce Éireann.
As a result of low water levels at Allenwood reservoir, 15,000 people, typically the most vulnerable, are regularly impacted. We need a simple, clear explanation as to the cause of the recurring low water levels and outages at the reservoir, an explanation as to why residents frequently receive inadequate advance notice, clarification on whether current and projected housing development has outpaced existing water infrastructure capacity and, most of all, details of any short-, medium- or long-term infrastructure works or investment plans to resolve these issues. We want to develop and to build, but we want to ensure that we have the water infrastructure in place for the houses that are built. Information on contingency planning for future supplies is required.
As I said, there are two water projects in train in Celbridge. People cannot get in and out of the town as a result of issues we are having with traffic. That is simply not good enough. The second of these projects relates to a new development of houses, which I obviously welcome, but the plan has been implemented in the wrong way at the wrong place, which means that the pipes are running down towards the main entrance into Celbridge. A public meeting was held. I was one of the only politicians present. We were informed as to what the impact would be. In the interim, we have had to change it a number of times with Uisce Éireann. That was not because Uisce Éireann came to us, it was because we went to Uisce Éireann.
As already stated, in Leixlip, every six weeks without fail we have a burst along the main line, which many Deputies here will know, between Carton and Intel. This does not happen by accident. It happens because the water pressure comes. These bursts happen regularly. The matter needs to be resolved. This is something I highlighted when I was a councillor. It embarrasses me to raise it here as a TD. The people of Leixlip have been let down. They are frustrated. This not only impacts Leixlip, it also impacts Celbridge and Maynooth. That is why I raised both matters today in the form of a Topical Issue relating to Uisce Éireann.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-18