Too many offices 'don't answer phone or emails'

Too many local government issues are now being dealt with at national level, a member of Westmeath County Council has claimed.

These were, Cllr Denis Leonard said, now in the hands of departments “that don’t answer the phone, don’t answer emails”.

Pressing that the Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District have a meeting with Irish Water, Cllr Leonard said there is a need to discuss numerous rural water issues, including the requirement of a minimum number of 25 houses for a water scheme, which, he said, is highly unfair on those seeking water connections.

He said that during Storm Darragh, there were burst mains at several locations, but no way of getting information about them.

“There was water flowing down the Killucan Road, like a river; all of Griffithstown was out of use, but nobody would answer a call, nobody would answer an email to say when it was going to be back,” he said, adding that it is difficult that there is such a big disconnect between local government and a local body.

“The day the water services left local government was a sad day, I can tell you, just like when health services went national. There’s too big of a disconnect, and they don’t understand the issues on the ground, they don’t understand the imperatives,” he said, criticising also the way the ESB treated customers during the storm.

The official written reply stated that Uisce Éireann has indicated it will meet elected members in the first quarter of next year.

“I hope I have the support of the members for saying that we need to write to them saying that meeting cannot go past quarter one of 2025. We have been waiting too long for it already, and I think it needs to happen as a matter of urgency,” he stated.

Cllr Leonard was particularly anxious that the company explain the rationale that requires 25 houses for a rural water scheme.

“Why they can’t get an answer? And this idea that you need 25 houses for a rural water scheme, like, why did they pick this figure, all of a sudden, out of the air? There are loads of people – maybe in four, five, six houses together – who can’t drill a well deep enough, who are within a shouting distance of a main water main, and yet can’t connect in.

“And why is planning often being given to those houses when they won’t have the chance of a proper water supply, or one that’s full of iron or other minerals to a certain high level? So why have they picked this arbitrary number of 25? I think we need an answer to that.”

Cllr David Jones supported the call, stating that while he would commend the Uisce Éireann engineers who responded to his queries over the weekend, he and other councillors have good reason to be critical of the organisation.

“I have emailed Uisce Éireann to look at the capacity of the treatment plant in Delvin, Collinstown et cetera, with no response, so an in-person meeting is fully welcome. We are facing crisis down the line, and we need issues addressed,” he said.

Support came also from Cllr Alfie Devine: “We have been screaming over this for years now,” he said, saying it was “unbelievable” the extent to which treatment plants, water systems, water tanks and reservoirs are all being left behind.

“It needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed soon, or we’re going to have serious problems. We’re getting planning permissions turned down because of it, and we’re looking for thousands of houses all over the country.

“It seems to me like the small villages and towns are being left behind. They’re concentrating on the big towns, which is wrong, because not everybody wants to live in a big town,” he stated.

Also in support of the motion was Cllr Niall Gaffney: “Hardly a municipal district meeting has gone by since the election that we haven’t been calling for these meetings. Over the last two and a half weeks, I think everybody in the room here has been contacting Irish Water about water being out in the areas, about water treatment issues,” he said.

Cllr Emily Wallace had no faith that Irish Water would do anything other than fob members off. She said that at the weekend it took her 56 minutes to get through when she called them to report a burst water main.

“Bar they’re coming down here with actual answers, there’s no point coming down here and sitting and wasting everyone’s time – because that’s what they’re currently doing,” she said.