Multiple cases of raw sewage ‘flooding’ back gardens in Tallaght were highlighted in the Dail recently by Paul Murphy TD. The Taoiseach himself described this as a ’horrific situation’, after the issue was raised by the People Before Profit representative.
The Dublin South West TD highlighted cases in Alderwood Grove and Glenview Park which were raised with him during the recent local elections, but said there are “hundreds of such cases across the country”.
“People have raw sewage coming out through manholes in their back gardens whenever there is heavy rain because there are simply too many housing developments connected to the one pipe. Whenever the system is overstretched or blocked up, it overflows into the garden of the house at the end of the sewage line.
“This is an issue I have raised repeatedly, but now two new cases have emerged in Glenview Park and Alderwood Grove. The families are being sent from pillar to post, with the Council and Irish Water refusing to take responsibility for the matter.
“This is a serious problem and it is being exacerbated by the kind of offloading of the responsibility from the council to Irish Water, and the refusal by Irish Water to take responsibility for this situation.”
Responding to the issue, An Taoiseach Simon Harris described it as “a horrific situation” and said it points “to the need to invest a great deal more in the water network”. He also said he was “hopeful that the Government will be able to make some concrete decisions shortly to increase levels of public investment through Uisce Éireann in some basic infrastructure”.
However, he stopped short of calling for Uisce Éireann to take responsibility for these specific situations, and said that the investment decisions “will be a matter for Uisce Éireann”
