Conway-Walsh raises ‘disgraceful’ Clare Island water outages in the Dáil

MAYO Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh has hit out at what she described as ‘disgraceful’ water outages on Clare Island.

Raising the issue in the Dáil, Deputy Conway Walsh called on Minister for Housing, Heritage and Local Government, Darragh O’Brien TD, to engage directly with islanders and outline ‘a firm plan of action’ to improve their water supply.

Parts of the island recently suffered extended water outages after Uisce Éireann began conducting step testing following suspected leaks.

This came following the lifting of the latest of several boil water notices on October 5.

Islanders were supplied with bottled water while Uisce Éireann engineers conducted repair works.

“It is disgraceful that in 2023, the residents of Clare Island are still dealing with water outages for up to two weeks at a time They are still unable to get any commitment from Uisce Éireann on when the necessary upgrades will happen,” said Deputy Conway-Walsh

“The most recent continuous outage lasted a full ten days, with some parts of the island affected by disruptions for 14 days. Water outages are a very serious matter for our islanders, who are dependent on fresh water supply for drinking and basic sanitation but also in the case of fire.”

The Sinn Féin Deputy also claimed rural group water schemes were being treated like ‘the poor relation’ to water supplies in urban areas.

“People need a water supply. Without a water supply, they cannot live in Dublin and they cannot live in Clare Ireland, Achill Island or all of the other communities in Mayo as well,” she added.

Replying to Deputy Conway-Walsh, Minister of State, Thomas Byrne TD, said that disruptions can occur following the return of supply to a network ‘where there may be issues with individual connections’.

He also outlined various projects planned at improving the water supply on the island, where works are ongoing to upgrade the local water treatment plant.

These included the addition of an ultraviolet and six carbon cartridges to replace the existing GAC layer, which he described as ‘not fit for purpose’.

“This will allow for quick change out of filters that can be done by hand, and constant GAC availability ensuring the integrity of the treatment process,” said Minister Byrne.

Investigations are underway to assess the potential to abstract water from a spring source further up on Knockmore mountain.

This will require the installation of an overground pipe of 300-400 metres to the new source for use in times when raw water quality deteriorates.

Responding to Deputy Conway-Walsh’s suggestion that rural group water schemes were ‘the poor relation’, Minister Byrne admitted that constituents in his Meath East constituency had experienced issues with their water supply.

“But, thanks to the investment the Government is putting into my constituency and, indeed, to the Deputy’s constituency at Clare Island,” he added, “I believe these problems are being ironed out and solved.”

“For the group water schemes, the Department’s multi-annual rural water programme, using Exchequer funding, is delivering improvements to water services, including in group water schemes, in areas of rural Ireland without public water services,” said Minister Byrne.

 “The objective of the multi-annual programme, through its various funding measures, is to improve the quality, reliability and efficiency of water services for rural dwellers where Uisce Éireann services are not available. In addition, the Department’s annual subsidy provides funding to contribute to the operational cost of schemes supplying water to their consumers for household use.”