'We'll go right to the top': Cork councillors disappointed by HSE and Irish Water's refusal to attend meetings

County councillors have expressed their disappointment that both the HSE and Irish Water have refused to come to their meetings to address issues in North Cork.

Members of the county council's Northern Division wrote to both organisations requesting that they send officials to attend council meetings four times a year in Mallow.

However, both wrote back saying they would not be doing this.

"The HSE reply is very disappointing. I don't know why they're afraid to come in here. The big gripe people have if that they (the HSE) don't seem to want to engage with anyone. We are public representatives, they should at least be engaging with us," Cllr William O'Leary said.

Cllr Pat Hayes, chairman of the Northern Division, agreed with him and said there should be more engagement from health officials.

Cllr Frank O'Flynn then pointed out that the council had just received a similarly negative reply from Irish Water: "They say that they won't attend our meetings as they don't have the resources."

"That's very disappointing. I feel very strongly on this. We only asked to meet them once every three months," Cllr Noel McCarthy said.

Cllr Bernard Moynihan maintained that many villages are crying out for new housing and can't get it because Irish Water isn't upgrading water and sewerage systems and councillors can't get answers to questions about their plans for the future.

Meanwhile, Cllr Kay Dawson said they keep getting the same type of replies from Irish Water about its plans to upgrade the sewerage treatment system in Mitchelstown. She was commenting on a letter received from Irish Water saying they are currently progressing the detailed design of the project: "I thought we were over the line with that and going for planning. We need a more structured answer."

"We asked for this project to be fast-tracked and they said no," Cllr O'Flynn said.

Cllr Hayes agreed with Cllr Deirdre O'Brien that they should write back to Irish Water seeking more detailed information: "We'll go right to the top this time and write to their chief executive officer."