Water: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Brian Stanley (IND), Laois

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this debate. The provision of water supply and wastewater infrastructure is critical for sustainable development. With housing being our number one priority, we must have the infrastructure to go with it. In County Laois, despite the best efforts of Laois County Council, there are major shortcomings that will hold back developments. The county is undergoing significant population expansion, but there are huge gaps in infrastructure. That is according to Irish Water's own documents, which I have scrutinised. There are water pressure issues and there is going to be a shortage of water supply in towns and villages like Portarlington, Mountrath, Stradbally, Rathdowney, Ballylinan, Durrow, Killenard, Borris-in-Ossory, Ballinakill, Castletown, Ballybrittas, Doonane and The Swan. They are all listed as red according to Irish Water. In terms of wastewater, Graiguecullen, Borris-in-Ossory, Ballinakill and The Swan are in need of upgrade. All of those towns and villages need infrastructure to meet housing demand. We cannot just keep putting all the housing in Portlaoise. It is good that there is housing being built, but the town of Portlaoise is absolutely gridlocked with traffic most week days and even on weekends. The roads around the town are chock-a-block. GP surgeries are booked out. Schools are full and services are under huge pressure.
Let me say this about the issue of connection costs. The connection costs since Uisce Éireann took over have skyrocketed. They have gone way ahead of where they were with the local authorities. One couple in Laois was asked for in excess of €20,000 to provide a water connection quite a short distance. That is completely over the top. It is €6,200 for the first 10 m, and €800 per metre after that. Do the sums on that and you will not be long clocking up between €20,000, €30,000 or €40,000. That needs to be revised.
I argued with then Minister Phil Hogan on the floor of this House on the issue of Uisce Éireann and the creation of it 13 years or 14 years ago. We had many a head-to-head over it. I was not in favour of it, and I am still not in favour of the creation of it. We are stuck with it, but as has been said already, it took away local democracy. Local knowledge of the network and services was lost. Local engineers were lost. Local water keepers, who are essential, were lost. Local-based staff to deal with issues and a forum for local councillors, democratically elected and accountable to their electorate, was taken away. Uisce Éireann promised to provide local contacts. It promised to provide local engineers. If anybody can find them, they should show them to me because I have difficulty and I know other public representatives have difficulties finding them. That has been one of the huge gaps along with the local knowledge being lost. As the existing county council workers go, this is going to be a problem. The simple fact is that these services should have been left with local authorities. Where there is a need for cross-county infrastructure such as the Shannon pipeline, that can be done in the same way that the National Roads Authority builds roads across counties. The towns and villages of County Laois need infrastructure upgrades.
Uisce Éireann must put locally-based engineers and contacts in place for county councillors and TDs and reduce exorbitant costs for the connections.

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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