Water: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Joe Neville (FG), Kildare North

I will follow up on many of the themes raised by many of my colleagues on this side of the House. I welcome the level of investment to go into Uisce Éireann over the next few years. From meeting the Uisce Éireann team at the infrastructure committee, I know the company is very positive about having the funds in place, not only to do the work it wants to do to repair water lines but also to help as regards the housing needed over the coming years. Uisce Éireann is very positive that the funding it is getting from the Government puts it in a strong position. As much as we hear about the negative things happening in the country, the fact that this country is being run so well gives us a financial capability that is very positive, as we are seeing with Uisce Éireann. Notwithstanding that, it is also very positive that the Government is prepared to have developer-led innovations. Deputy Ó Muirí alluded to the Shannon-to-Dublin scheme and it is very important that we are able to do that.
I raise the issue of communication, which Deputy O’Sullivan also referred to. If there is one thing we need to fix, this is it. As I said, from my work on the infrastructure committee, I can see it works well at the top, but at councillor level and in local communities, we can do things better. In Celbridge, for example, a new programme of works is being planned for the next nine months. It is hugely significant work on the main artery into Celbridge. I attended a communication evening - I think I was one of the few public representatives who did - and I learned a huge amount. I will not say it was not advertised enough, but I am not sure the people of Celbridge are fully aware of what is planned in respect of the work coming downstream. I put it to the county council that I do not think the plan in place is good enough. I am working with Kildare County Council and Uisce Éireann to fix that ahead of the problem coming. We have also had huge traffic issues with the works being done on the Maynooth transfer pipeline. People were caught on the hop by that project.
Uisce Éireann is doing a lot of work. The Government is prepared to innovate and Ministers are ready to listen to our ideas on this side of the bench. As part of my role on the infrastructure committee, I will continue to liaise with Uisce Éireann. I commend the company on the work it is doing. As with everything, we can do better and get more things in the capital plan, including in local areas, for example, getting water bursts in Leixlip resolved too.

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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