Process of reporting issues to Irish Water “frustrating”, says TD

The process of reporting issues to Irish Water is “cumbersome and frustrating,” says Sinn Fein TD Dessie Ellis.

Deputy Ellis, a Dublin North-West representative, told Minister Michael Noonan in the Dail last week that there are several problems with the operation of Irish Water at various levels.

“When a problem is reported to Irish Water it utilises the water services staff and equipment of Dublin City Council and other councils.

“If I were to go directly to the council to report an issue, I would be told to contact Irish Water first, which is a ridiculous situation.

“While there is a dedicated elected representative support email address, in my experience the system does not necessarily address the issues any quicker.

“My constituency colleagues and I have had to pursue issues to the point of exasperation, sending email after email to the Irish Water representative’s address to try to get the problems we have raised resolved.

“I have found that many of the responses I receive show a lack of understanding of the problem raised and are often inaccurate.

“This method of raising issues with Irish Water is nothing more than a sop to public representatives.

“Lack of effective communication and an inability to liaise directly with senior management raise concerns in respect of both transparency and accountability.”

Deputy Ellis also said that works carried out by Irish Water have “caused secondary problems.”

“On McKee Avenue in Finglas last Saturday, after Irish Water had completed works in the area, residents, including a number of elderly people, were left without a water supply all weekend and all day Monday up until this morning.

“It appears that no advance notice was given of the works taking place.

“In St. Canice’s Court in Finglas, residents were also left with disrupted water supply following works carried out by Irish Water.

“The issues around water pressure are still ongoing.

“When these problems are raised with Irish Water, I find that it effectively abdicates responsibility and in many cases puts the onus on the homeowner affected to rectify the problem.”

In response Minister Noonan said that “planned supply interruptions can occur for maintenance reasons or in regard to planned works undertaken by local authority staff or third party contractors on behalf of Irish Water.

“Unplanned interruptions can often be the result of a fault in the network, or related to a severe weather event, and are usually responded to in the first instance by the relevant local authority under the service level agreement with Irish Water.

“Irish Water assures me that it makes every effort to deliver on its responsibilities and keeping such interruptions to a minimum to the extent possible, thus minimising the impact on its customers.

“I assure Deputy Ellis that all Oireachtas Members and councillors use the public representatives’ service.

I find it good but I take on board the points made in terms of it being a different way.

“It took a bit of getting used to from when we would make representations directly to a local authority.

“Generally, I find that any representations I make to Irish Water in regard to water or waste water infrastructure or emergency situations are good but there is always room for improvement in this regard.”