A Kerry County Councillor says he was told by Irish Water this morning that there's no guarantee there'll be funding to replace the trunk water main in Farranfore that's led to a major water outage and a road closure.
Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae was attending an Irish Water clinic in which representatives of the utility provided updates on plans and schemes for Kerry.
Cllr Healy-Rae says he was told at this morning's meeting that the design for the Farranfore scheme has been completed.
The scheme will include the replacement of a kilometre of the trunk water main that has caused the disruption.
Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae says Irish Water said at the meeting that this would cost €1.5 million but that this cost could rise as Transport Infrastructure Ireland has resurfaced part of the affected road.
The independent councillor says he was also told that there's no guarantee that the pipe will be replaced by the end of the year as Irish Water doesn't have a budget for it.
Cllr Healy-Rae says the repeated bursting is affecting not only homes and businesses in mid-Kerry but also thousands of commuters using the N22 Tralee-Killarney road.
Irish Water says, working in partnership with Kerry County Council, both bodies have identified the one km of an asbestos concrete water main which runs through Farranfore village as a priority for replacement.
Funding is not yet approved for construction at this stage but Irish Water says it will communicate funding decisions as soon as they are announced.
The utility says no guarantees were given in any forum in relation to funding approval for construction.
It says: "Irish Water, working in partnership with Kerry County Council have identified the 1km of 600mm Asbestos Concrete water main which runs through Farranfore village as a priority for replacement. Funding was approved for the design of replacement of the trunk water mains and the design was completed in April 2021. Works are currently ongoing to complete the repairs on the pipe which burst this morning. Funding is not yet approved for construction at this stage but we will communicate funding decisions as soon as they are announced. No guarantees were given in any forum in relation to funding approval for construction. Irish Water policy in relation to the methodologies of how funding is allocated is based on a set of criteria that is consistent and constantly reviewed."
