Calls for 'real investment' in Kildare's ailing water infrastructure

Homes which should be built in Co Kildare are not being built due to the government's failure to properly invest in critical infrastructure, according to a Sinn Féin TD for Kildare South.

Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh told the Dáil this week that nowhere was the problem more evident than in the south Kildare water system.

According to Deputy Ní Raghallaigh – who was speaking when 'Housing and Critical Infrastructure: Motion [Private Members]' came before the House - between 2018 and mid-2024, Irish Water recorded over 15,500 complaints from customers in Kildare alone, equating to approximately one complaint over water supply or quality every four hours.

In 2023, she said, 205,000 households experienced water service outages, the highest number since 2018, despite assurances of increased investment and local trained workers.

The Sinn Féin TD said: “Constituents come to me regularly about recurring boil water notices, water with a petrol-like taste and, most frequently, falling water pressure.

“One woman in Newbridge told me just last week that she has lost water pressure every evening from 5pm until midnight since January and still nothing has been done. That means no washing up after dinner and no laundry.

“Her two teenage daughters cannot shower after their sports training or when they are menstruating. It is just not acceptable. To add insult to injury, people are paying plumbers out of pocket just to fix airlocks caused by these interruptions.”

More than €1.1 million has been spent on the problem by Kildare residents in 2023 alone, Deputy Ní Raghallaigh claimed.

She told the Dáil that Kildare's water system cannot handle any new developments without compromising “the basic rights of those already living there.”

She concluded: “We all know how urgent the need for housing is. That is why we need real investment in our water infrastructure now, not false promises or spin but the kind of sustained, targeted investment that ensures people do not have to go without the most basic service of all - clean running water.”

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