Water: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Natasha Newsome Drennan (SF), Carlow-Kilkenny

Last week I outlined how several contractors being used by Irish Water are operating in a cartel-like fashion to drive up the cost of public works. This is being done to ensure that every possible cent of public funds ends up in their pockets. While local media have been covering this scandal there has still been no comment from the Department or Irish Water.
How much longer will they bury their heads in the sand and hide from this scandal? The harsh reality is that the ordinary people of Carlow and Kilkenny are paying the price for this corruption. Instead of getting their water supply fixed on time, people are getting boil water notices slapped on. Instead of leaks being fixed, valves are being installed to reduce water pressure and output, giving the impression that leaks have been reduced when, in fact, all that has been done is that the water supply has been turned down. Bennettsbridge is one of these places where huge funds are after being pumped in to fix old pipes. Now Irish Water has fecked up, so it turns down the water pressure to make it look like there is not as much leakage whereas now the question is how it will go back in there. Just a few days ago they had another burst pipe there without water or with low pressure. This is just not good enough. Just look at Castlecomer, in Kilkenny. It has rolling water restrictions all year round. It is something they have become immune to. This is a community of over 2,000 taxpaying citizens, and what do they get in return? Substandard water and second-class treatment. Then there is the community of Inistioge, where the Government's failure to invest in water facilities has brought a complete halt to new builds and is destroying local waterways due to raw sewage being discharged into the rivers.
How much longer will the Government allow this failing system to punish the public, wasting public money and neglecting people's basic right to clean water and safe infrastructure? What is going on in a lot of these situations is stuff that should be on "Prime Time". Somebody needs to investigate because the money is being wasted on contractors for them to sit in a van getting huge money and hiding rather than looking for work. It needs to be looked into.

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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