Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 27 May 1992

Vol. 132 No. 15

Adjournment Matters. - Matters of Concern to Members.

Dr. Upton

I have had representations from residents in the Terenure/Whitehall Road area where some residents find that the water supply pipe carrying the main water supply to their houses on the Whitehall Road and Whitehall Road West is connected with the water supply pipe under the main roadway which is the responsibility of the county council.

Difficulties arise when the supply pipe goes out of order and needs to be repaired. Responsibility for the repair of the supply of service pipe lies with the householder. That arises from anomalies in some Act dated back to 1930. If the supply pipe to somebody's house is damaged while it is under the main roadway, the householder is responsible for paying for its repair. I see Senator Wright acknowledging the problem; he is all too familiar with it. This problem is raised regularly at Dublin County Council meetings and, councillors there are driven to despair by it.

The provision does not apply to people living in the Dublin Corporation-Dún Laoghaire Corporation areas. It is difficult to explain to constituents who happen to live on the wrong side of the Cromwellsfort Road that if they lived on the city side and suffered damage to the water pipe it would not present any difficulties. For those on the wrong side of the road it means being faced with huge bills.

A woman told me recently that she was faced with a bill for £500 to start digging up the road and with a charge of £500 a day after that. It is a matter of great concern to residents arising from an anomaly in the law. I hope the Leader of the House might take this message back to the appropriate Minister. I have no doubt that the Leader understands the situation well and probably understands it better than I do given that he has been a member of Dublin County Council longer than I have.

Mr. Foley

I appeal to the Minister for the Environment to provide funding for national primary road development at Headley's Bridge, Knocknagoshel, Tralee, County Kerry. I have been asked by a number of residents in the area to raise this matter, and also by people using the road daily.

Kerry County Council have carried out much work between Castleisland and Headley's Bridge over the past number of years with regard to realignment and have brought it up to a reasonably good standard.

The road from Headley's Bridge to Abbeyfeale is substandard. All design work has been completed by Kerry County Council for Headley's Bridge, has been submitted to the Department over many years and has been recently updated as requested. Commitments have been made with regard to Headley's Bridge but there has been no positive response.

The road from Abbeyfeale to Limerick has received a lot of funding over the past few years and is reasonably good. I appeal again to the Minister in view of the bad condition of Headley's Bridge and the road to Abbeyfeale, to make the essential funding available to Kerry County Council to get the work under way within the current year. A number of serious accidents have taken place at Headley's Bridge.

Mr. Neville

I thank the Leader of the House for taking the issue of Carrigkerry post office in County Limerick and I call on the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications to direct An Post to reopen the post office there. It is now two months since it was closed and there is deep anger and resentment in the community as a result.

Carrigkerry is a small rural community in a remote area of west Limerick between Athea and Ardagh. It is a poor area and has suffered severely in recent years from high emigration and high migration. All the young people have left the area which has a high number of senior citizens who use the post office to collect their old age pensions. These people have been hardest hit and are now obliged to find methods of travelling to Newcastlewest or Athea; most do not have the means of doing so. It is cruel to change the facility they used to collect their weekly pensions.

Carrigkerry represents what is best in a small rural community. People are very supportive of each other. If a pensioner failed to collect his or her weekly money, the former postmistress travelled to that person's home to check if he or she was ill. People congregated in the village on pension and children's allowance days and contributed to sustaining the small businesses which maintain the existence of this small village. The church, school and post office were the key services and provided a focal point for the identity of the community.

An Post has pulled the plug on the post office. The savings which will accrue are minimal, less than the value of two pensions. The decision is merely to conform with the policy to close any rural post office which requires a change in ownership. The concerns of the people and the question of what is right and proper for the community are ignored. This trend must be reversed. If the Minister is not prepared to do this, they minimum she can do is to insist on the provision of a facility in the village for a half day each Friday to pay out pensions and another half day per month to pay children's allowances. This is the minimum which is acceptable and there are plenty of precedents for making this arrangement.

An Cathaoirleach

The Leader has taken note and will deal with the matters raised.

Mr. Wright

All issues will be sent to relevant Departments and Ministers for reply.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 28 May 1992.