Uisce Éireann to carry out 600 reinstatements on Cork roads it did not repair properly

The national utility company are looking to remedy the damages done to roads across the county in the course of fixing and upgrading their water and sewerage pipes.

Uisce Éireann is to carry out an estimated 600 reinstatements of roads in Cork after it didn’t repair them properly.

Uisce Éireann is to carry out an estimated 600 reinstatements of roads in Cork after it didn’t repair them properly.

A senior Cork County Council official has said around 400 of the reinstatements are needed in the local authority’s North Cork Division, with a further 100 each in the West and South Divisions.

Niall Healy, the council’s director of roads and transportation, said in extreme cases the local authority had to send out its own crews to undertake proper repairs to roads which were not done by the utility.

He said this has “cost the council a lot of money” out of its own resources.

Mr Healy said in many cases temporary reinstatements which were not up to scratch normally resulted in rain washing away the top of the road revealing holes again.

He confirmed he and his officials have met with senior personnel from the company who “acknowledged a legacy build-up of reinstatements which are long overdue”. He said they need to be addressed as a matter of priority.

Poor reinstatements of roads by Uisce Éireann after fixing leaks or replacing/ upgrading water and sewerage pipes under roads have come up at nearly every monthly meeting of the eight municipal district councils in the region for the past two years.

Uisce Éireann say their contractor  is currently surveying “a substantial list of reinstatements across County Cork and has been instructed to prioritise the North Cork area".

Complaints

It's led to almost constant complaints by councillors, not least the Fine Gael leader on the council, John Paul O’Shea, who's based in North Cork.

Councillor John Paul O'Shea who is based in north Cork said he has received correspondence on the matter from an Uisce Éireann official who said its asset operations department has advised that its contractor is currently surveying “a substantial list of reinstatements across County Cork and has been instructed to prioritise the North Cork area".

The official added that the contractor has already commenced work in the county and will have additional crews in place by the end of this month.

They will continue with reinstatements with a view to completing all by the end of the autumn.

Both Mr O’Shea and Mr Healy welcomed the news but both stated that in future it's vital that the utility's contractors carry out quicker, permanent repairs to any roads that they have dug up.

However, many councillors are still complaining about the poor communication they’re getting from Uisce Éireann officials when it comes to water outages. The company has promised better communication with local public representatives.