Can we have a little order? We move now to Deputy Barry and Solidarity Before Profit. I apologise, People Before Profit-Solidarity.

There is a water crisis in Cork city. The issue is dirty, discoloured water - brown and orange - coming from the taps. It is coming from the showers. It surges into washing machines and dishwashers. It does not affect every home but there is no question that it has affected many thousands of homes. Uisce Éireann statistics indicate that on nine separate weeks in the past 18 months, complaints from the public were more than ten times the number that would normally be expected. The problem began in earnest when Uisce Éireann gave a €40 million design-build-operate contract for the new Lee Road waterworks to a private, for-profit company. When the company's workers joined a new water main to the existing one and started pumping water through it, they discovered that the water was hard and needed to be softened. To rectify this, they added a chemical. I understand it was caustic soda. However, they added too much, and when the treated water reached the old water mains, it stripped everything away from the walls of the pipes. Some 54% of the city's water distribution network is cast iron with an average age of between 65 and 100 years. Decades of sediment were torn away. The dirt only had one place to go, which was into the water supply. The orange and brown water poured out of the taps, ruined washes, destroyed dishwashers and damaged washing machines. Uisce Éireann urged householders to let the water run clear, said the clear water was safe to drink and added that both the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and the HSE had confirmed this.

Householders want the water to be tested at source in their homes and not back in the treatment plant. I am not aware that this was ever done. Wanting greater certainty, many households began to buy bottled water costing €20 per week or €1,000 per year in a cost-of-living crisis. Where problems persisted, Uisce Éireann sent teams of water workers out to flush the local supply clear. While Uisce Éireann pays for ads to promote water conservation, it is flushing water by the ton load in Cork to correct a mistake of its own making. Meanwhile skilled water workers, who could be upgrading the system, spend one third of their working hours on a firefighting exercise. It is a fiasco. If it had gone on for a couple of weeks or a couple of months, it would be bad enough. However, it has gone on for 18 months without an end in sight. Privatisation has been a disaster.

I ask the Minister two questions. First, will he tell the householders who have had to suffer this situation that what has happened is completely and utterly unacceptable? Second, will he call on Uisce Éireann to put a plan in place to resolve this issue, communicate it to the people of Cork and outline a timeframe for the resolution of this problem?

We absolutely have to resolve that problem. The health of our people comes first and the first base load of that is having a healthy environment, clean water and all the other services we need. My understanding is that an EPA investigation file was opened in December 2023 and that has to be resolved. We have that independent assessment so that it is not left to Irish Water to assess what is appropriate or what will be done. We have regulatory systems to make sure we have a clean environment.

I will make a couple of points on the Deputy's commentary. We have not privatised Irish Water; it is the exact opposite. We have enshrined the constitutional imperative that water is a basic necessity and the existence of a right to water. That has not led us down the privatisation route like we have seen in the UK. Is it appropriate for Irish Water to use contractors? Absolutely. I do not think the entire work has to be done within existing direct labour or other systems. I believe Irish Water is a highly capable organisation. From the left, I stand up for the State. The €1.53 billion we put into Irish Water every year is starting to deliver in the context of reducing the direct pumping of sewage. The key with water is that it is connected to our housing issue. We need to provide water infrastructure so we can have development in Cork and elsewhere. I believe Irish Water is doing a good job. I do not have the full details but if, as the Deputy said, Irish Water made a mistake in whatever was in this regard, it has to acknowledge that. That would be something for the EPA to assess. That does not mean that Irish Water is not delivering for the Irish people; far from it. It is. If I have those details, I will certainly pass them on, and on behalf of the Government, I will encourage the EPA and Irish Water to rigorously pursue what happened to resolve the problem and make sure the people of Cork have clean water, which they deserve.

The title of this session is Leaders' Questions not leaders not answering the questions. The Minister did not answer the Sinn Féin question. He did not answer the Labour Party question and he is not answering the simple questions I put to him. I will repeat them. Will he simply and clearly tell the Dáil and the people who have been directly affected by this that this situation is completely unacceptable? He did not answer that question. He must answer it now and say that it is completely unacceptable. Second, will he say that Uisce Éireann must now outline a plan - not firefighting or flushing - to resolve the problem, explain it clearly to the people of Cork and explain a timeframe for doing it? Those are my two simple requests.

On privatisation, yes, the Government did not privatise Uisce Éireann, but it is going with so many private contracts that it is heading towards de facto privatisation of our water system. The Minister knows that and that is the root of the problem. Will he please answer the questions I asked him?

I absolutely answer the questions, "Yes", on both counts. Irish Water has to resolve this issue and be fully transparent about what has happened in this instance. It has to resolve it and be open, honest and upfront with the people of Cork as to why they are seeing discoloured water coming out of their taps. There is no difference between us on that. I agree 100%. All the regulatory authorities have to make sure that is done in a proper, legal and swift manner. The Government commits to supporting that process. I do not agree about Irish Water being a privatised organisation.

Completely unacceptable.

It is funded by the State.

He will not use the words "completely unacceptable".

It is totally unacceptable if cloudy water is coming through someone's tap. We have to deliver to the highest standards particularly water so that people have confidence in the basic services. People should never have to buy bottled water in any part of the country. That requires an investment of €1.5 billion from the taxpayer, the same taxpayer who has to fund housing and the health service and the same taxpayer who may have to fund our broadcasting system. It is a real challenge to meet all these different needs but absolutely Irish Water must do that on our behalf. I believe it can and will do so.