Criticism of Uisce Éireann following two Kildare water outages

Uisce Éireann, formerly Irish Water, is to be asked for a list of water pipe bursts and their locations in County Kildare since 1 January 2023.

The request from Kildare County Council will also ask for the number of residents impacted on each instance. Separately, there is a request for an out of hours hotline for elected representatives to notify the water authority of outages.

This follows a motion from Cllr Joe Neville at the July meeting of Kildare County Council, requesting the list. Speaking to the motion, he said councillors are at the forefront of getting questions — and blame — during instances of water disruption in their own areas, but this information would help them know if the problems were the same in other places.

"It helps us not only when getting back to the public, but would also help us, Uisce Éireann, and the Government to see if any places are out of step with the rest," he said, adding that it's about getting more information for the capital programme. "When we as councillors have third parties in to talk to us, having this kind of information helps to ensure large investments."

Cllr Nuala Killeen suggested that the request be amended to ask Uisce Éireann to identify larger mains that have needed upgrading over the last three years. "There are always water outages, and without investment these are going to continue bursting," she said.

Earlier, the meeting had discussed a motion from cllr Bernard Caldwell requesting that Uisce Éireann establish a dedicated helpline on weekends for elected members, so that emergency water supply tankers for affected customers could be organised where major outages occur.

He said: "There should be some kind of a standby at weekends."

He was supported by cllr Naoise Ó Cearúil, who noted that there had been two recent major outages. "The issue is when the emergencies happen out of hours," he said, adding that with the increased population growth in the county, "we have to ensure that the basic infrastructure is there".

Cllr Nuala Killeen said that having to interact with Uisce Éireann “is a complete nightmare”.

"It used to be that the water tankers were sent out by the Council after six hours," she reminded those present.

Cllr Seamie Moore noted that, quite often, calling the water authority only gets one to a call centre. "That's no good, they only pass on the call. There should be an active response centre."

Officials said Uisce Éireann have been informed in meetings of the important role councillors play in bringing information about such outages and that they are now putting “a high priority” on calls from councillors. The members were urged to attend a workshop with Uisce Éireann planned for the autumn, and state their concerns directly to the organisation.

Uisce Éireann is being asked to respond to both motions for the next meeting of the council.