The Government must take political responsibility and oversight of Uisce Éireann following more unplanned outages throughout the country, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.
Deputy Farrelly, who sits on the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said:
“Outages in Kildare, Dublin, Cork, Tipperary and Wexford following a dry spell in recent days came only weeks after many of the same communities suffered damage from flooding. It seems the State cannot cope with or without water.
“It is ridiculous that no one has political responsibility or oversight of Uisce Éireann. Every outage in a community gets reported to the UÉ helpdesk, which can take weeks to receive a reply.
“Families are sick of waking up to dry taps, and businesses have to close with no notice. Every outage is a blow to small enterprises.
“When a TD submits a Parliamentary Question on the matter, the Minister for Housing is quick to tell them that it’s not his responsibility. If a county councillor submits a query to their Local Authority, they will tell them the same thing.
“We find ourselves in a situation wherein the utility can barely operate, and as we have learned in PAC recently, pay outrageous bonuses for a below-par service, whilst the government can keep their hands clean of any scrutiny.
“I am seeking speaking time in the Dáil this week to call on this Government to take charge of Uisce Éireann.”
April 27th, 2026