When can the people of Limerick expect to have a proper drinking water supply? This week, Irish Water customers were advised that a new water website has been launched to enable customers to access up-to-date information for their area. I went on the website and the information that was available was negligible. I spoke to a group of people from Fedamore, County Limerick, who have been on a boil water notice for the last 16 months. During that time they have never received a call from Irish Water. One father told me that his household is using up to 50 bottles of drinking water per week, at a cost of €60 per week or €15 a head. Another community in Kilteely has been waiting for a new water line for the last three years. Irish Water came to plug a hole each time there was a leak instead of replacing the pipe. Now, the cost of the amount of repairs for the last three years outweighs the price of replacing the pipe. We are paying people to repair pipes instead of replacing them. All our money is now going into repairs.

The quality of water has not improved. It should have improved, considering that €5.5 billion has been spent in Irish Water over five years. Something must be done about it. Everyone in this country is entitled to have good drinking water. We have set up Irish Water and it is a failed entity. It is not delivering, even though €5.5 billion has been spent on water systems. Fedamore in Limerick has been on a boil water notice for 16 months, costing a family €60 per week for water. With regard to anybody in this country who has an inadequate water supply due to the failure of Irish Water and the Government, will the Government subsidise those people for their drinking water, which they should have in their taps? Will the Government subsidise them until Irish Water can fix the problem? They have been 16 months without drinking water. A match in the local GAA club between two counties was cancelled because people were afraid of the water supply. There was the same issue in Croagh last year. Will the Government pay the people who have inadequate drinking water and subsidise them until the problem can be fixed? I am asking for that for the people of County Limerick. The biggest polluter in Limerick is the local authority because it is pumping raw sewage into the Shannon.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Deputy will appreciate that I am not responsible for, and do not have detailed knowledge of, every area in the country in respect of water supply and water quality, but I accept that if a particular district is 16 months without a consistent sustained water supply, that is not acceptable. That issue should have been addressed by now, but I will have to get a report from Irish Water on its perspective on this, what the challenges and problems are and why the issue in Fedamore or Kilteely has not been resolved.

It has to be said that Irish Water has made a great deal of progress across the country. The allocation for 2021 is €1.4 billion. There is continuing investment in Irish Water itself as a utility, to continue to expand treatment plants, replace pipes and improve water supply. In many respects, the fact that €1.4 billion in capital has been allocated this year, and there were similar amounts over previous years, illustrates the scale of the challenge confronting the country in respect of water infrastructure. Given the economic development and expansion in the country and the increase in population, this is a significant challenge which the utility, acting on our behalf, must address. We have to marry that with the housing issue, because the housing issue is inextricably bound up with water supply and the speed with which we can get water infrastructure in place to facilitate housing developments. The constant refrain we hear from people in the housing sector is that they would prefer much faster connections and so forth. Water and housing are inextricably linked.

In addition, the quality of water is very important. There are many pollutants, as the Deputy knows from the EPA study this week. The problems we have were in its urban wastewater report, which was published a few weeks ago. Again, there are issues. With regard to the local authority, that speaks to the need for proper wastewater treatment facilities, which require very significant investment as well. All of us have to be clear about our responsibilities in terms of nutrients going into the waterways and so forth. The Deputy's key point is that Irish Water must deal with the issues in Fedamore and Kilteely. The Government's commitment is to continue to fund Irish Water's capital programme. Last year, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform significantly increased expenditure for Irish Water given the challenges it was facing. We will continue to support Irish Water in that regard.

Legislation to clear the way for the extraction of 350 million litres of water per day from the River Shannon to feed Dublin's needs is seriously defective and was raised by the Oireachtas independent legal advisers. Dublin is looking for 350 million litres of water for its needs. I want a metre put on the water leaving the Shannon and in every county through which it passes. I want Dublin to pay for every drop of water it gets from the Shannon. That should be reinvested in County Limerick and in all the other counties that have inadequate water supplies. That is how to pay for infrastructure in our area.

The Taoiseach spoke about a report on the infrastructure. The Government wants people to live in the towns and villages. Hospital in County Limerick has been told that the existing system will be upgraded, but it will not allow for any capacity. Dromcollogher has been told that the biggest polluter in the River Deel is the local authority. Again, Irish Water said it will upgrade the existing system, but it will not expand it. That means I cannot get anyone to live in our towns and villages, even though the Government is saying on every television programme that it wants people to move into towns and villages. However, there is no capacity and no infrastructure. Dublin wants water.

You can pay for every penny of it and put the money into infrastructure in County Limerick and all of the other counties that will be passed through to service Dublin.

We need solidarity in the country. I genuinely believe when I say solidarity that we have to find solutions to problems in the country. Dublin is expanding. Many of your people-----

I am from Limerick.

People who lived in Limerick are now living in Dublin.

And people who lived in Dublin are now living in Limerick.

There you are. That is a good sign for Limerick.

We have no supplies.

It is a Third World capital.

Exactly.

Please could we stop the interruptions and allow the Taoiseach to speak?

What I also see happening is that any project to help resolve issues just gets objected to. That is becoming the sort of habitual-----

I am not objecting.

I want to make my point. It is becoming the habitual trend.

I am not objecting.

There is a very serious issue with water supply in the east part of the country. We need to be practical about it. We need engineering solutions. We need to do so in a way that does not damage the environment or local communities. We need to do it practically and with a bit of common sense. That is all I will say on that one. The idea of having to pay for every drop of water the whole way up is not realistic in terms of how we can apply it.

You have all the services up here. We want them in Limerick.

I do not know who "you" is. Does the Deputy not know I come from Cork? There is only so much I will take.

The time is up. Sorry to interrupt the conversation.

You are in bed with the Blueshirts, so you might as well put on a blue jersey with the way you are acting.

The time is up.

I note you are wearing the Limerick mask. I understand the success of the Limerick hurling team. You are fully in your rights to have that self-confidence and that projection forward. I understand that fully.

Thank you. We have to draw the conversation to a close.