Water: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Albert Dolan (FF), Galway East

I will start by speaking about the basics. When I say "basics", I am talking about water pressure. For the people I represent in Gurteen, Cloonsheecahill and east Galway, there are many places where there is low water pressure. During the summer, it has a detrimental impact on their quality of life and ability to live. In the capital plan developed by Uisce Éireann, there are many references to pumping stations, particularly a pumping station on the mid-Galway water scheme. Will the Minister of State's office undertake to follow up on that? A pumping station should not be something that takes many years. It should be rapid infrastructure that gets delivered to the people who need it because they have to live their lives without that water pressure.
Many estates in east Galway are left in limbo, as they are right across the country. They cannot be taken in charge by the local authority and, simultaneously, they do not have the funds to upgrade infrastructure. What needs to happen first and foremost is that the Department needs to allow local authorities draw down funding whereby footpaths, lights and green areas in unserviced estates within villages can be taken in charge. This would lower the cost burden on homes currently servicing the wastewater and would allow us to plan for the future.
Focusing on Uisce Éireann, I will make a critical point. I have seen the best of Uisce Éireann. I have seen it at Athenry, where €13 million was spent delivering a fantastic upgrade to our sewerage network that will allow us to go from a 5,000-person town to a 9,000-person town. I am glad to report that before Christmas over 180 homes commenced in Athenry. We have 300 homes being built right now, which is really exciting for a town that has so much going for it. I have also seen the worst of Uisce Éireann. When I send a representation, I get a reference number and that is where the representation dies. Nothing comes back to me. It is absolutely vital that if we as public representatives have a query, we can get back to people so they can trust in Uisce Éireann and we can hold it to account.
On that, will the Minister of State follow up on the Eyrecourt sewerage network upgrade that is required? Eyrecourt is a beautiful village in east Galway. It has a fine community hall, which it has invested in over the past two years. It has a shop, pub, primary school and library. It has so much going for it and such wide beautiful streets, but the reality is that it has a population crisis. Until that sewerage network is upgraded, we will not see any improvement for villages like Eyrecourt. Will the Minister of State's office undertake to follow that up?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-31T01:00:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21