Irish Water coffers running dry for hard-hit Listowel supply
Irish Water can’t even afford to attend local council meeting
OUTGOING Cathaoirleach of the Listowel Municipal District Jimmy Moloney said he was ‘ hugely disappointment’ to hear Irish Water is not prioritising works to replace clappedout old mains in the town centre.
The fifth major breakage in town this year occurred two weeks ago on the Bridge Road, with every business and residence east of the Square out of water for 26 hours. Meanwhile, hundreds of homes and many businesses were left dry for a similar length of time after a break in the mains at the bottom of Courthouse Road on May 22 – just as some limited establishment began to re-open after lock-down.
It’s a problem set to hamper the economy if left untreated into the future.
But Irish Water informed Kerry County Council that it is no position to replace the mains there this year – despite the Council saying it had prioritised the job in a €4million submission to the agency in March this year.
And Irish Water can’t even afford to meet councillors in the flesh at local area meetings as it doesn’t have the ‘resources’ to do so, a representative informed Kerry County Council.
“It’s hugely disappointing to say the least, but appears to be par for the course from them,” Cllr Moloney (Fianna Fáil) told The Kerryman.
“They’re saying they have a strategic plan, but I can’t understand why they won’t include Listowel in that strategic plan given the volume of people affected.”
Cllr Moloney was himself without water for 26 hours as a result of the most recent burst.
“From a Listowel point of view it is obvious we have a major issue with the pipes.,” he said. “They are just too old. What I would be calling for is that there would be some supplementary budget from Irish Water to fix this problem once and for all.”
He said the critical point in the network was the 220m stretch between St Michael’s Graveyard and the junction of Church St and Courthouse Road. The May 22 break on this stretch impacted hundreds of households – at a time when supply was in massive demand at the height of the lock-down.
“If we have to contend with this into the future it will be a disaster,” he said.
He has urged Kerry County Council to press Irish Water on the matter and was informed by management that the Authority had included the scheme in submissions to Irish Water.
“There were three burst-pipe incidents in Church Street in 2019, and there have been two to date this year. These breaks can totally interrupt the supply to the town centre for hours on end, because there is no alternative pipe to the Square,” Council management informed Cllr Moloney.
“When contacted specifically on the issue earlier this year, Irish Water wrote that the water-main in Upper Church St is not among its planned priority works for 2020. The €50k replacement of 200m of this main, in conjunction with imminent roadworks, was at the priority item of a €4million prioritised submission by the Council to Irish Water in March 2020...Following the March Listowel MD Meeting, Kerry County Council wrote to Irish Water to ask for a meeting on this issue.”
Irish Water said the budget had been fully allocated already: “Irish Water is focused on improving service and reducing leaks across Ireland by fixing or replacing old, damaged water pipes and removing lead pipes on the public network. This is a significant undertaking with the current resources and budget available, and we are using a risk-based approach to planning this work.
“The 2020 mains rehab budget has already been fully allocated, and the water-main in Upper Church St is not on Irish Water’s priority planned works for 2020.
“I note your request to attend an upcoming meeting of Listowel Municipal District. Unfortunately we do not have the resources available to attend Council or Municipal District meetings at this time.
“However, I would like to assure you and the members that it is our intention to provide accurate and upto-date responses to any queries raised by elected representative as quickly as possible...we thank the members of the Listowel Municipal District for their support and reiterate our commitment to ensuring they are kept informed of developments in the area.”