Uisce Éireann issues boiling over
Michael Olney
Cork County Council has written to relevant departments calling for the abolition of Uisce Éireann and the return of water service responsibility to local government.
The letter was sent this week following a motion tabled by Independent Cllr Danny Collins at Monday’s full Council meeting.
Cllr Collins’ main concerns centred around an ongoing and long-term lack of communication on the part of Uisce Éireann with Cork County Council.
During Cllr Collins' term as County Mayor between 2022 and 2023, the council sought a meeting with Uisce Éireann officials to discuss water service issues across the county.
“At the time Irish Water said things would improve but to be quite honest, things have not improved since and that’s over a year ago,” said Cllr Collins.
The former county mayor said another big issue is the lack of communication between Uisce Éireann and its workers on the ground. He said: “I reported a burst pipe on a rural road down near Bantry before Christmas. I went back to them and they said yes, it’s on the list to be done.
“I spoke to one of the local lads on the ground and he said he got no communication of any burst pipe, and fair play to him, it was sorted a day or two afterwards.”
Cllr Collins said the passing of water services over to Irish Water (now Uisce Éireann) in 2013 was “a sad day”.
“There’s no substitute for democratic ownership, accountability, and responsibility. Uisce Éireann has gone beyond a joke,” he added.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy said that the establishment of Uisce Éireann is another example of the undermining of local government in Ireland.
“In about three weeks’ time I’ll be here 16 years and in that length of time the amount of undermining of the powers of local government has been frightening, it’s been absolutely scandalous,” said the councillor.
He continued: “From the setting up of Irish Water, to the expanded role of TII, to the bigger impact of the National Parks and Wildlife service, to the Office of the Planning Regulator, to the myriad of schemes that are administered centrally by departments; it is getting highly frustrating, all these standalone organisations and nameless, faceless people.”
Fine Gael Cllr Kevin Murphy, although in full support of Cllr Collins’ motion, said it is an “absolute waste of time” to send the motion to government.
“Uisce Éireann has been set up, and believe you me, the setup has cost a fortune and to abolish it would cost a hell of a lot more,” said Cllr Murphy.
He added: “All this will do is ruffle a couple of feathers up in the departments but I don’t think there’s any hope in God’s creation of getting Uisce Éireann abolished.
“It’s not going to happen, end of story.”
Cork County Council Chief Executive, Valerie O'Sullivan, agreed with Cllr Murphy but said that it may be enough if Uisce Éireann was to align itself with the Cork County Development Plan.
“If they are not to be abolished, if they could be directed to behave in that sort of reasonable manner, aligned with the local authority, we’d be flying,” she said.
Responding to the motion, a spokesperson for Uisce Éireann said the company iscognisant of the need to continually strengthen engagement and is undertaking a review of how it engages with local authorities, including elected members.
"As part of this review, we have been seeking direct feedback from councillors through individual local authority workshops taking place around the country," said the spokesperson.
They added: "Cork county was the first area for Uisce Éireann to host one of these in-person workshops. We have completed 24 of these workshops to date and aim to complete the remaining 7 workshops in the coming months."