Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 Jan 1994

Vol. 437 No. 6

Written Answers. - Dublin Water Supplies.

Seán Haughey

Question:

320 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many householders residing in the Dublin Corporation area, particularly on the northside of Dublin, have experienced severe water pressure difficulties for the past two months and that some householders have had no water supply at all during this period; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that Dublin County Council are not supplying enough water to the corporation area; the reasons for this; if, in view of the fact that many residents cannot wait for the completion of the north city arterial main in February in order to have a water supply restored, he can intervene with the local authorities involved as a matter of urgency in order to solve this problem which is unacceptable in a modern European capital in the 1990s.

Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

336 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment if, in view of the grave water shortages and cutoffs of water supplies in the northern fringe of Dublin city over the past three months, he will ensure that the tenders for major refurbishment at Ballycoolen Reservoir are approved immediately; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for the Environment (Mr. M. Smith)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 320 and 336 together.

The operation of water services, including maintenance of supplies and pressures, is a matter for the local authorities concerned.

However, within the programme of capital improvement works financed by my Department, the first phase of the North Dublin City Arterial Watermain, which will be commissioned shortly, has been designed to provide significant improvement of water supplies to that area.

Tenders for the provision of a new intake at the Leixlip water treatment plant which supplies the Ballycoolen Reservoir are being considered by my Department in the context of the 1994 water and sanitary programme. Fingal County Council are also preparing a schedule of other works to improve the efficiency of the Leixlip plant. In addition, I recently advised Fingal County Council to prepare a report on the feasibility of expanding capacity at the plant.