Irish Water connection added €15,000 per house at Laois housing development, meeting hears

A developer had to charge an additional €15,000 per house in Stradbally because of the cost of getting connected by Irish Water/Uisce Eireann, a council meeting was told. 

The meeting was also told Irish Water had turned down water pressure in the town in order to prevent pipes bursting.  

Some people are unable to shower in Stradbally because the water pressure has been reduced to prevent pipes bursting, a councillor has claimed. 

Independent Cllr Aisling Moran made the claim at the latest meeting of the Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District. 

She claimed the water pressure was lowered when issues were discovered with pipes bursting due to age. 

“Instead of fixing the pipes they just turned down the pressure,” Cllr Moran claimed.  

“One bar of pressure doesn’t and won’t power a power shower,” said Cllr Moran. 

She told the meeting that she knows a woman who “is just out of hospital” and “can’t have a shower” due to the water pressure. She said the pressure is at two bars on the ground level but above that it is only one. 

Cllr Moran tabled a motion seeking “that Laois County Council ask Úisce Eireann why they have turned the water pressure down in Stradbally and to please increase the pressure.” 

In a written response, Laois Council Senior Engineer  Adrian Barrett said “The Council will contact Uisce Eireann regarding this notice of motion and revert to the members with an update when a response is received.”

Cllr Moran said there were also issues in the Killeen area where she claimed money was being spent repairing issues. She said there are issues elsewhere in Arles and she questioned how Irish Water/Uisce Eireann were operating. 

“I would like to know how much money was spent repairing that,” she said. 

Fianna Fail Cllr Paschal McEvoy said he agreed with Cllr Moran. He said he was aware that pipes had been changed in Stradbally.  He said “Irish Water, Uisce Eireann they are now called, they are a bit of a disaster to be honest with you.”

Cllr McEvoy said a developer who was building houses in Church Avenue had to charge an additional €15,000 per house due to work laying pipes on Main Street in Stradbally. 

“I don’t really understand how this happened.  He had to pay for the new pipe coming down Main Street… so the price of a house went up €15,000,” he said. 

Cllr McEvoy said it was a mistake to move from Laois County  Council to Irish Water and he claimed things are “in turmoil” now as regards water. 

Independent Cllr Ben Brennan said there was only one metre of water in Crettyard. He claimed a well was bored that drained his well leaving him with no water for cattle. 

He said the fire brigade and a private contractor are having to bring water to the reservoir. 

“It is an absolute and utter disgrace,” he said. 

“I asked for a tanker to be put in Crettyard that farmers could go and get water for cattle,” he said. 

He described the establishment of Irish Water as “the biggest disaster ever” and he told the councillors that they could thank “Mr Hogan” for introducing it. He said Laois County Council had been doing an excellent job. 

The Leinster Express contacted Irish Water/Uisce Eireann in relation to the claims about Stradbally. 

A spokesperson said “Uisce Éireann engaged with this developer through our Pre-Connection Enquiry and Connection Application Process. As far back as 2018 Uisce Éireann outlined to the developer the need for upgrades to provide additional capacity in the existing water network to supply this new development; this message has been consistently communicated to the developer. Therefore, the developer was aware of additional scope of works outside of the standard charging parameters. 

Irish Water  pointed out that it adheres to a Connection Charging Policy it said provides a single national, clear, transparent, and equitable connection charging framework by:

“Setting out Standard Connection Charges for the majority of connecting customers;Charging for connections based on service need and not the development floor area of the property; Providing an end-to-end connection service to customers in a consistent, safe, and comprehensive manner; and ensuring quotable charges are determined on a case-by-case basis and the additional scope of works required to deliver a customer connection is in line with Uisce Éireann Codes of Practice and Standard Details to meet the needs of current and future customers.

Similar to other regulated utilities Uisce Éireann has no discretion when it comes to charging customers, this methodology has been applied nationally. Ensuring that there is adequate capacity on the network and or at the plant is critical in protecting supply to existing customers and to protect the environment.”

They denied they had been reducing the water pressure in Stradbally. 

“From an operational perspective, there has been no recent deliberate pressure reducing works in the Stradbally area. We can confirm that Stradbally is gravity-fed from a reservoir and pressures are steady, only varying with incidents that reduce the head of water in the reservoir such as bursts. 

Should repairs to the pipe network be needed these are conducted as quickly and as efficiently as possible to minimise disruption and restore the water supply to homes and businesses. We understand the inconvenience an unplanned outage can have on our customers and appreciate their patience as we work to return normal water supply as quickly as possible,” they stated. 

They said customers experience pressure issues can call the customer care helpline 24/7 on 1800 278 278  also contact them on Twitter @IWCare with any queries. Regular updates are also available on the Irish Water website.