Ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil mé fíor-bhuíoch díot as deis a thabhairt dom an fhadhb seo a chur os comhair an Aire agus an Tigh. Rud é seo atá an-tábhachtach do mo Dháilcheantar féin.
The Dunkineely water scheme, incorporating Croagh, Meenbrock and Castlerea, has been in operation for more than 40 years. This scheme was designed to supply 30,000 gallons of water a day. However, by 1980 the demand had risen to 60,000 gallons per day and temporary work had to be carried out by Donegal County Council at Croagh Lough and new pumps had to be installed. The resultant decrease in pressure in the water mains had a terrible effect on the households connected to it.
The present supply is not able to meet the demand. The increase in water consumption, caused mainly by the increase in the number of tourists and new houses built and the additional connections to group water schemes, has led to the water supply being cut off by Donegal County Council at night. This has had very serious consequences for householders and also gives rise to problems in the event of a fire. Apart from one connection to a restaurant and guesthouse which had to provide 170 dinners every evening and could not operate without water, the water supply was cut off all last weekend. This meant that there was no water within several miles with which to put out a fire in Bruckless or Dunkineely.
This problem could be solved by linking the Dunkineely water supply scheme to the new Killybegs water supply network which has just been completed at a tremendous cost to the State of approximately £15 million. From the point of view of householders and businesses in the area, the Minister should ensure that this scheme is included in the operational programme. The contract documents are with the Department and the cost is not exorbitant. I hope the Minister will see fit to approve these contract documents and to allocate money to alleviate this major problem in my locality.
