merrion street

Minister Phil Hogan TD, today (7th November 2013) welcomed the announcement by Dublin City Council of the lifting of night time water restrictions in the Dublin area by this evening. The restrictions were caused by a problem with the water being treated at the Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant, but that problem has now been resolved.

The Minister said, “Having visited Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment on Monday and seen the efforts made to address the problem, I must commend the tireless efforts made by the engineers in Dublin City Council in getting this matter sorted out. They were faced with an unprecedented situation on which they worked around the clock to resolve. In particular I want to thank Chief engineer Michael Philips for his calm and pragmatic leadership during the whole thing.”

This problem with the water has been a timely reminder of just how important the establishment of Irish Water is. The tight capacity of water supply in Dublin, has demonstrated over the past week the need for a sustainable funding model for water services and infrastructure. The establishment of a single utility will ensure that additional investment can be made available in the coming years to address infrastructural weaknesses, capacity strains, leakage rates, and future demand needs. The new funding model, based on water charges, will allow for access to funding for investment from capital markets as part of this process. There will also be a focus on reducing operating costs and generating economies of scale and efficiencies by moving from 34 water services providers to one.

Minster Hogan said, “Years of woeful underinvestment by the previous Fianna Fail led administration – even when the country was awash with money – has led us to this. But now with the establishment of Irish Water we can soon relegate to the past the problems caused by underinvestment.”