Minister receives updates on Donadea, Kildare power outage issues

Kildare Fianna Fáil Minister James Lawless TD has confirmed he has been made aware of repeated electricity outages affecting households in the Donadea area, and that he has made direct representations to ESB Networks on the matter.

Minister Lawless said: “Several residents have contacted my office in recent weeks about ongoing and disruptive power outages in Donadea. These interruptions have caused significant inconvenience for families and enterprises operating in the area. I would like to thank those who reached out and raised the issue with me.”

In response to his representations, ESB Networks advised Minister Lawless that an engineering assessment of the medium-voltage line supplying customers in Donadea has now been completed. Recent storm activity and falling vegetation were identified as the main cause of faults, and ESB Networks has confirmed that planned timber-cutting and refurbishment works will be undertaken early in the New Year to strengthen reliability on the circuit.

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“I welcome the commitment from ESB Networks to progress corrective works as quickly as possible. While storms have undoubtedly placed pressure on the network this winter, it is essential that affected communities have a resilient and dependable power supply. I will continue to monitor the situation to ensure these works proceed without delay and that outages are minimised going forward.”

Minister Lawless also noted that ESB Networks recently secured regulatory approval for a major investment programme under PR6 (2026–2030), which places a renewed focus on reducing unplanned outages through performance incentives and penalties.