Mayor calls on Limerick TDs to ensure more funding for Uisce Éireann in the Budget

THE MAYOR of Limerick, John Moran has called on local TDs to ensure more funding for Uisce Éireann in the Budget as he welcomed the lifting of a boil water notice affecting thousands of households and businesses in County Limerick.

Uisce Éireann has confirmed the notice on the Foynes Shannon Estuary Public Water Supply has been lifted with immediate effect. It was issued in May 2023, impacting 7,000 customers. It followed the detection of cryptosporidium at the water treatment plant.

Mayor Moran said he has made the resumption of safe drinking water a priority in his vision for a more healthy Limerick.

“I committed to voters to finding ways to progress the solutions needed to sort out longstanding boil water notices in county Limerick. To that end I held meetings with ministers and senior representatives of Uisce Éireann in recent weeks and my office engaged with them on an almost weekly basis. 

“I welcome the lifting of this boil water notice but this announcement reminds us that it has taken more than a year to resolve an issue that has hugely inconvenienced thousands of people. Other customers in the east of our county still cannot simply turn on their taps to have a glass of water. I understand that an embargo remains in place and will continue to be a focus for me until a similar result is achieved,” said Mayor Moran.

READ MORE: Boil water notice lifted for thousands of people across West Limerick

The mayor said the boil water notice on the Foynes Shannon Estuary Public Water Supply has been extremely damaging to people’s confidence in the water supply. 

“It has been a financial burden on households that paid for bottled water or paid the energy costs involved in boiling all water required for consumption. In my discussions with Uisce Éireann, it has become obvious to me that they are under-funded to adequately serve Limerick, especially considering the upcoming growth in our housing stock and new industrial activities. 

“I am calling on the Government and our Limerick TDs to ensure in Budget 2025 that Uisce Éireann is given the funding they need to fix our water infrastructure to the level at which it should be operating,” concluded Mayor Moran.