Irish Water won’t meet with committee on boil-water issues
By Brendan Grehan
IRISH WATER won’t meet with the Lucan/Palmerstown/Fonthill area committee of South Dublin County Council despite the committee passing a motion in September requesting a meeting.
The members of the committee have not heard from Irish Water a month after the motion was passed.
Lucan residents have little faith in irish Water
This follows on from last week’s boil-water notice which left residents in Lucan without drinkable tap water for nearly three days.
The boil-water notice was lifted on Friday afternoon after Irish Water said it received satisfactory test results from a number of water samples and that an audit of the Leixlip Water Treatment Plant by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was carried out last Thursday.
The boil-water notice was first issued on Tuesday (October 22) after a technical issue at the plant in Co. Kildare resulted in contaminated water in the greater Dublin area pipe system.
At the September meeting of the Lucan/Palmerstown/Fontill area committee of the council, Councillor Liona O’Toole had a motion passed calling on Irish Water executives to attend the next area committee meeting.
The October meeting was last week and Irish Water were not in attendance.
Cllr O’Toole told The Echo: “In September, I had a motion passed for us to write to IW requesting them to visit our council chambers as I believe we now need to meet with them directly as a committee to discuss the many issues we are faced with. I’m still waiting on their reply.”
Cllr O’Toole said that after the events of last week, Lucan residents have little faith in Irish Water.
She said: “Last week’s boil-water notice brought matters to a head. People in Lucan are concerned about their water supply and have little faith in Irish Water.”
The Echo contacted Irish Water to ask if they would meet with the members of the committee.
An Irish Water Spokesman told The Echo: “Irish Water is committed to safeguarding our water for our future. Councillor Clinics are held regularly in South Dublin County Council at which councillors can meet Irish Water staff and discuss local issues/queries. If we are unable to provide the relevant information on the day we will follow up and respond as quickly as possible.”
The spokesman said the most recent clinic for the council took place on Monday, September 9 last.
He added: “Irish Water also has a dedicated Local Representative Support Desk, which can be contacted Monday – Friday from 9am to 5.30pm to deal with queries from elected representatives about any topic related to Irish Water. Irish Water are not in a position to attend Council or Area Committees as a matter of course.”
