The Taoiseach was challenged to drink “urine-coloured” water taken from taps in Cork City amid renewed calls in the Dáil for action to resolve the city’s ongoing dirty water crisis.
Simon Harris described the water sample, which came from taps in homes in the Mount Farran estate on the city’s northside, as “vile” but said the government has provided Uisce Éireann with an additional €1bn in the budget to fund it to 2028.
“So my question back to Uisce Eireann is when are they going to be able to address that horrific situation that you demonstrated in the Dáil,” he said.
“I don’t need to sit any closer to you to see how vile and awful the situation that is your constituents on the northside of Cork.”
Mr Harris was responding to questions from Solidarity TD Mick Barry who brought the bottle of water into the Dáil on foot of a request from residents of Mount Farran.
They took to the streets in desperation last month to highlight the shocking condition of water flowing from their taps as Uisce Éireann continues to try to fix the discoloured water issue that has blighted parts of the city for two years.
Mr Barry told the Dáil that the Mount Farran residents have been dealing with discoloured water intermittently since mid-July, but constantly since last Saturday morning.
“It has been unrelenting, morning, noon and night since Saturday. Urine-coloured water. Leave aside how to have a cup of tea, how do you do your laundry? How do you have a shower?” he said.
Holding aloft a bottle of straw-coloured water, he said: “The residents asked me to bring a sample of their water into the Dáil chamber. I agreed to do so. Here it is, Taoiseach. Have a look at that. It is disgusting. You’re more than welcome to sit beside me and have a closer look, or even a sup if you dare to go that far.
“When are you going to offer some class of relief to these residents and to others like them who are being put through this purgatory?”
Mr Harris said he would ask the utility’s chief executive for an update again on the progress it is making on resolving Cork’s discoloured water issue.
Uisce Éireann has been undertaking an extensive programme of targeted pipe flushing in a bid to clear residue from the city’s old cast-iron pipes.
But it has warned that it will take an investment of some €500m over many years to replace the ageing pipes.
