Uisce Éireann project management
Deputy Ó Cearúil complained about poor communication and disruption from Uisce Éireann works in north Kildare. The Taoiseach said a public-representatives unit existed and he would raise the matter with the Minister.
The Government prioritised critical infrastructure in the last budget and we are seeing the benefits of that in Kildare with water infrastructure. However, the management of the projects by Uisce Éireann is extremely poor from traffic to water outages. There have been particular issues in Celbridge, Maynooth, Leixlip and north east Kildare. The difficulty I and communities face involves holding Uisce Éireann accountable around timelines and particularly around traffic and water outages. What can we do in relation to Uisce Éireann because its responses take weeks and if we are fortunate, days.
There needs to be more accountability from Irish Water, particularly on these specific projects.
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There is a unit now within Uisce Éireann that is meant to be responding to public representatives in respect of issues. I do not have the specifics but I clearly can detect from the nature of the Deputy's contribution that he is irate at what has transpired in respect of a project in his area. I will talk to the Minister about it.