Ongoing water issues in North Kildare raised in Dáil
Joe Neville TD (FG) said the people of Leixlip in particular had been 'let down' by Uisce Éireann
A Fine Gael TD has voiced his frustration, “and that of thousands of people who live in North Kildare”, in dealing with ongoing water supply issues under Uisce Éireann.
“Across the north of the county, from Leixlip all the way to Johnstownbridge and down to Naas, we regularly come across issues with Uisce Éireann”, Deputy Joe Neville told the Dáil recently.
“We have issues in Leixlip where we get a consistent water burst near the Intel plant. Not a month goes by without a pipe bursting.
“Second, there are the low water levels at the reservoir in Allenwood. This affects Carbury, Kilmeage, Prosperous and all the other places in the area. Up to 15,000 people at a time can be impacted.
“Third, I want to speak specifically about the issues in Celbridge. There has been low water pressure in the town for a number of years. Work is ongoing at Hazelhatch to alleviate the problem, which is a positive. At the same time, however, two huge construction projects are under way in Celbridge.”
Deputy Neville said he wished to speak specifically on the second of these. As Fine Gael's spokesperson on infrastructure and delivery and as vice chairman of the Oireachtas infrastructure committee, he said he welcomed any water infrastructure upgrades in his constituency.
He was, however, “frustrated” by the speed at which those upgrades and infrastructure are being delivered and rolled out, he added.
“I specifically refer to the towns of Prosperous and Staplestown in this regard, where councillors Brendan Wyse and William Durkan are consistently raising this matter at council level.”, he said.
“As a result of low water levels at Allenwood reservoir, 15,000 people, typically the most vulnerable, are regularly impacted.
“We need a simple, clear explanation as to the cause of the recurring low water levels and outages at the reservoir, an explanation as to why residents frequently receive inadequate advance notice, clarification on whether current and projected housing development has outpaced existing water infrastructure capacity and, most of all, details of any short, medium or long-term infrastructure works or investment plans to resolve these issues.”
Deputy Neville pointed out there are two water projects in train in Celbridge, and residents “cannot get in and out of the town” as a result of traffic issues.
“The second of these projects relates to a new development of houses, which I obviously welcome, but the plan has been implemented in the wrong way at the wrong place, which means that the pipes are running down towards the main entrance into Celbridge.
“We were informed as to what the impact would be. In the interim, we have had to change it a number of times with Uisce Éireann. That was not because Uisce Éireann came to us, it was because we went to Uisce Éireann.”
Deputy Neville said that “every six weeks” in Leixlip there is a burst along the main line, “between Carton and Intel.”
The matter needs to be resolved, he said, and was something he had regularly raised as a councillor.
He said he was “embarrassed” to raise the issue in the Dáil as a TD.
“The people of Leixlip have been let down. They are frustrated. This not only impacts Leixlip, it also impacts Celbridge and Maynooth. That is why I raised both matters today in the form of a Topical Issue relating to Uisce Éireann.”