'There's no such place as Durrus': West Cork councillors hit out at Uisce Éireann communication

Councillors were highly critical of the water utility over 'absolutely terrible' communication around water outages and boil water notices in West Cork

Council meeting heard councillors were often left trying to answer questions from residents without receiving the information they needed from the utility. File picture

West Cork councillors have criticised Uisce Éireann's communication as “not fit for purpose” following a series of recent water outages and boil water notices, unanimously calling on utility representatives to attend future municipal district meetings.

The criticism was voiced at a meeting of the West Cork Municipal District this week, days after a precautionary boil water notice affecting more than 8,000 customers was lifted and overnight water restrictions in the Skibbereen area were brought to an end.

Fine Gael's Brendan McCarthy said councillors were being left to deal with frustrated residents while struggling to get accurate information from Uisce Éireann.

“The communication is absolutely terrible,” he said.

“We're trying to find out what has become of restrictions, why boil water notices are issued, what has become of them afterwards. There's huge problems coming down the track.” 

Mr McCarthy said councillors were receiving conflicting information during incidents and were left answering questions from the public. “They're really not fit for purpose,” he said.

“It's really a disgrace that's going on. We need to be getting more updates. The communication levels really need to change because it's falling back to us, and it's really embarrassing for us.” 

Social Democrats councillor Isobel Towse said there had been “radio silence for nine days” during one recent incident before an update was provided.

She said replies to councillors' queries were often slow and inconsistent, and proposed inviting Uisce Éireann representatives to attend every municipal district meeting to answer questions directly.

Independent Ireland councillor Danny Collins also criticised the utility's communication, recalling an earlier attempt to report a water outage. 

“I rang about a water outage in Durrus and was told, ‘There's no such place as Durrus.’ That is a true story,” he said.

Mr Collins said councillors were often left trying to answer questions from residents without receiving the information they needed from the utility.

Councillors agreed to write to Uisce Éireann seeking the attendance of a representative at future West Cork Municipal District meetings to provide updates on local water services and respond directly to members' concerns.

This article is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme