VILLAGES and towns in Clare can’t sustain new housing developments because of the lack of adequate water and wastewater facilities, according to a local senator.
The lack of proper water infrastructure in Broadford and Miltown Malbay was raised by Senator Róisín Garvey in the Seanad recently.
Commenting on a new Green Party policy setting out the recognition of clean water as a human right, Senator Garvey stated new houses can’t be built until proper water infrastructure is provided.
“In Broadford and Miltown Malbay in County Clare, we have all of the money, the sites, and the
houses have been designed and are shovel-ready, but without water infrastructure there will be
nothing built. Therefore, we must take water infrastructure seriously and invest in it.
“Infrastructure deficits in Ireland impact on the provision of safe and secure drinking water.
They lead to pollution and environmental damage. They present a challenge to achieving sustainable development across urban and rural Ireland.
“Water supply must be put before housing need because one cannot have people moving into houses if there is no running water. Continued investment in infrastructure coupled with innovative and modern approaches is absolutely necessary and fast becoming an emergency.”
The Programme for Government commits to making the provision of safe drinking water and the proper treatment of wastewater a priority, and Senator Garvey will bring a motion on this issue to Seanad Éireann next week.
The motion will re quest the State to provide for the management, treatment and distribution of safe water through systems in public or community ownership, ensuring the protection and restoration of the ecological status of water bodies.
“Recognition that clean water is a basic human right of every inhabitant of this country and that Access to Clean Water and Sanitation is also a United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal that we have signed up to.
“Water is a basic human right, yet here we are in 2021 with a huge water crisis in Ireland. It’s time we valued our water and gave it the respect and investment it needs so people can feel safe drinking and using it again.
“The Green Party as a Government party have made commitments in the Programme for Government and now we have to turn those into action. We must protect it from source to sea and everything along the way, rivers, lakes, and groundwater.”
“Coming from rural Ireland, I see huge issues with lack of infrastructure. We have many villages in towns that are one water treatment plant away from surviving and thriving. There is no housing without water infrastructure. There is no rural development or regional balance without water infrastructure.
Dan Danaher
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.