Uisce \u00c9ireann is flailing aimlessly in the face of its own crippled infrastructure, which could lead to disastrous consequences, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly, who sits on the Public Accounts Committee.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve written to all members of PAC to secure an agreement to invite Uisce \u00c9ireann to appear before the committee when it resumes sitting after the summer recess, in light of reports of \u2018critical constraints\u2019 within our water system.<\/p>\n
\u201cHousing delivery could be halted by a dearth of infrastructure within as little as three years if Uisce \u00c9ireann cannot get its act together – we cannot afford for the housing crisis to nosedive any further than it already has.<\/p>\n
\u201cUisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s troubles are found on all fronts – in terms of its finances, more than 400 of its staff earned over \u20ac100k last year, with bonuses surging past \u20ac13m, all the while 24 water restriction orders were imposed affecting 21,000 people, while another 95,000 were impacted by boil water notices.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment supports in the form of capital contributions of \u20ac572 million to this utility fully merit full scrutiny by the public spending watchdog.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite these wages, Uisce \u00c9ireann have let out a cry for help that it\u2019s in danger of losing its staff to the UK, who has committed to investing close to \u00a3100 billion in water networks – we\u2019re spending vast swathes of cash without securing results.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn another front, the Environmental Protection Agency has sounded the alarm that the water supply for almost 500,000 people is at risk of disruption, with treatment processes in need of attention and rejuvenation.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemand for drinking water in Dublin was so high last Monday that it exceeded anything the city\u2019s supply was built to cope with, while in Kildare, water supplies that serve 81,000 people are in need of remedial works.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that expert advice is needed to rescue Uisce \u00c9ireann from its woes – PAC should be given the chance to analyse its shortcomings and investigate potential solutions that will ensure our housing and water supplies are not stunted by infrastructural issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Housing Committee has already heard that Uisce \u00c9ireann has \u2018run out of road\u2019 – it\u2019s time this issue is taken into hand and treated with the urgency it requires to prevent future disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n
July 2nd, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uisce \u00c9ireann is flailing aimlessly in the face of its own crippled infrastructure, which could lead to disastrous consequences, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly, who sits on the Public Accounts Committee. Deputy Farrelly said: \u201cI\u2019ve written to all members of PAC to secure an agreement to invite Uisce \u00c9ireann to appear before the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,692,7,690],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-pac","category-press-release","category-uisce-eireann"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n