Irish Water representatives have apologies for issues regarding the supply in mid-Kerry.
They came before members of Kerry County Council yesterday; it was the first time the national utility appeared before a full local authority meeting.
Kerry County Councillors have been calling for Irish Water to appear before them for some time, to address a series of issues around the county.
The utility confirmed they’ll also attend the September council meeting to further address concerns raised by councillors.
Councillors hit out at the Irish Water representatives and highlighted a number of problems in the county; these included the lack of sewerage schemes and the capacity of such schemes, along with the impact this is having on potential new housing developments around the county.
Issues in a variety of areas around the county were raised by councillors, however, the main concerns related to the Kilcummin Sewerage Scheme and regular outages in mid-Kerry.
Adrian Mullins of Irish Water apologised and told the meeting they were aware of the issues in mid-Kerry; he stated Irish Water has spent more money on a network in mid-Kerry than anywhere else in Kerry or the country in recent years.
With regards the Kilcummin scheme, councillors hit out at the changes made to the €9 million scheme by Irish Water; they highlighted that four areas now weren’t included and said residents weren’t aware they had to apply to be included.
Irish Water’s Sean Laffey told the meeting the scope of the Kilcummin project is set and the budget is used up, so Irish Water is not proposing to extend the network in Kilcummin at this moment in time.
Meanwhile, concerns regarding the transfer of local authority water services staff to Irish Water were also raised by councillors who stated the council’s water staff were keeping water flowing in the county.
