Water: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Danny Healy-Rae (IND), Kerry

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about water, water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants. Many of our towns and villages do not have either adequate water or sufficient capacity in their treatment plants. There are many villages and settlements that do not have wastewater treatment plants. I wish to focus my attention on two estates at the top of Aghadoe where the outfall is down into the lakes of Killarney. I have raised this numerous times, including with the Taoiseach and as a Topical Issue. It is still going on. The matter has not been resolved. There are two treatment plants there that are completely outdated. Sewage from them is spilling over. This time the last year during the storm and the flooding that followed, it flowed down the road. Where did it finish up? We all know where it had to finish up. The outfall is into the lakes of Killarney, so that is where it eventually finished up.
There is a problem here. Irish Water has taken responsibility for the duties relating to this matter. A total of €998,000 was allocated to Kerry County Council. The council could not get Irish Water to work with it in order to do the necessary work. It cannot deal with the matter at all now because it does not have responsibility for it. I am asking the Minister of State and the Taoiseach to get involved. The people in the village have waited seven years for action. There is an environmental hazard. It is not fair on the town of Killarney to allow this. It is also not fair on the estates in question. I ask Irish Water, Kerry County Council's environmental section and the engineers who were involved in the water services and sewerage services previously to work together to resolve this. A sum of €998,000 was made available by the Department. The residents have collected €74,000. There is a shortfall of about €400,000. Wherever it comes from, that money will have to be got. Irish Water will have to be deployed. This is an emergency. The tourist season is approaching. In Killarney, tourism is the prime income for many people.

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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