Carey again raises issues of Clare water supply in Dáil Éireann
Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey has this afternoon used his Dáil Éireann speaking time to highlight continuing issues associated with water supply in County Clare.
While acknowledging the work carried out by the staff of Clare County Council, including water caretaker Sean Heaney, Deputy Carey said their work was made incredibly difficult due to years of underfunding in infrastructure by Fianna Fáil.
Deputy Carey raised the issue of an alternative water supply for Ennis and its environs and highlighted the failure of Fianna Fáil to prioritise the Ennis Water Augmentation Scheme.
Deputy Carey challenged the Minister for Environment to provide immediate funding to facilitate this scheme and ensure that tens of thousands of Clare households have access to a reliable water supply.
In recent months Deputy Carey has continually raised issues associated with the Ennis water supply in Dáil Éireann, asking numerous parliamentary questions and raising the issue within the Dáil on several occasions.
He said that the ongoing and continuous problems with the water supply over recent weeks highlight the fact that “nothing has been learned from the harsh conditions householders faced last winter.”
Text of Dail Speech on Water Services Motion 12th Jan:
The people of County Clare in County Clare.
While acknowledging the work carried out by the staff of Clare County Council, including water caretaker Sean Heaney, Deputy Carey said their work was made incredibly difficult due to years of underfunding in infrastructure by Fianna Fáil.
Deputy Carey raised the issue of an alternative water supply for Ennis and its environs and highlighted the failure of Fianna Fáil to prioritise the Ennis Water Augmentation Scheme.
Deputy Carey challenged the Minister for Environment to provide immediate funding to facilitate this scheme and ensure that tens of thousands of Clare households have access to a reliable water supply.
In recent months Deputy Carey has continually raised issues associated with the Ennis water supply in Dáil Éireann, asking numerous parliamentary questions and raising the issue within the Dáil on several occasions.
He said that the ongoing and continuous problems with the water supply over recent weeks highlight the fact that “nothing has been learned from the harsh conditions householders faced last winter.”
Text of Dail Speech on Water Services Motion 12th Jan:
The people of County Clare experienced extreme hardship throughout the Christmas period because of interruptions in the water supply. Extreme weather conditions exposed the shortcomings in our water infrastructure throughout the country.
I want to complement the outdoor staff of Clare Co. Council for their work throughout the holiday period. In particular I want to mention Sean Heaney the water caretaker in Ennis and his crew for their work to restore water to people. But their task was made so much harder because of the sheer under investment in critical water infrastructure over many years.
In the limited time available to me today I want to concentrate on the issues surrounding the Ennis Water supply. The Ennis Water Supply has experienced many difficulties in terms of boil notices and interruptions to supply over many years.
I have raised the issue of the need to provide an alternative water supply for Ennis many times in this house. I do this because we have a crisis in terms of the quantity of water available to Ennis, Clarecastle, Barefield, Doora and Crusheen. The fact is that in excess of 30,000 people rely on one water source. That single source of water together with the infrastructure is not capable of satisfying demand.
People in Ennis, in Clarecast