Tipperary TD calls for abolition of Irish Water and return of services to councils

Independent TD Seamus Healy has criticised senior executive bonuses at Irish Water while highlighting persistent service failures affecting households across south Tipperary.

Speaking in the Dáil this week, the Tipperary South representative drew attention to payments of up to €32,000 made in 2024 on top of salaries ranging from €122,000 to €255,000.

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He said 47 executives received bonuses between €6,600 and €32,500, while more than 560 staff earning between €83,000 and €154,000 were awarded bonuses of €1,000 to €22,000.

He contrasted these figures with the position of frontline workers, noting that no bonuses are paid to staff who work around the clock repairing burst mains or responding to boil water notices.

He described the situation as “an insult to lower paid staff and to consumers, who are suffering the absolute failures of Irish Water”.

Deputy Healy described Irish Water as “another quango paid for by PAYE taxpayers” and said the organisation is “antidemocratic, anti-consumer and anti-public representative”.

He argued that it believes it is not answerable to the public, citing a lack of public offices and a refusal to engage with elected representatives in open forums such as county council meetings.

He also criticised the limited access for consumers, saying it is impossible to meet Irish Water officials face to face. While problems can be reported through a call centre, he said responses may take weeks or may not arrive at all.

“I believe it has contempt for the public and councillors alike,” he said, adding that Irish Water refuses to notify consumers of planned outages, a practice other utilities such as the ESB carry out without difficulty.

Boil water notices have, according to Deputy Healy, become widespread across south Tipperary over the past 12 months.

Towns affected include Ardfinnan, Tipperary Town, Cahir, Cashel, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir, with some notices lasting two, three and even six months.

At the time of his statement, there was an active boil water notice on the Ironmills supply and a major outage in Clonmel.

He attributed these problems to staffing shortages, inadequate maintenance at treatment plants and the absence of alarm systems.

Delays in responding to burst mains, particularly at weekends, leave households without water for extended periods, he said.

Based on these issues, Deputy Healy called for Irish Water to be abolished and responsibility for water and wastewater services returned to local authorities such as county councils.

He also highlighted sewerage blockages affecting single homes and combined drains. He said Irish Water refuses to deal with such blockages, claiming they are private matters, even though local authorities handled them before the utility was established.

“It is simply impossible, impractical and unfair that individual householders should have to bear the significant costs involved,” he said, noting that a blockage at a single location can affect up to 50 households.

Finally, Deputy Healy referred to a promised referendum to prevent the privatisation of water services and secure them in public ownership. He said the referendum was promised in 2016 and called for it to be brought forward immediately.

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