Mattie McGrath Blasts Irish Water Control and Sewage Failures
Mattie McGrath criticised the pace of recent legislation and set out extensive concerns about water management, Irish Water's powers, treatment plants and river pollution. He argued that leaks and local systems must be prioritised, that Irish Water has too much control, and that sewage and treatment processes need urgent scrutiny.
Legislative pace and parliamentary scrutiny
He described the recent legislative effort as "crazy" and "gung-ho", saying dozens of acts had been brought forward with insufficient parliamentary scrutiny and that the House should properly examine legislation rather than rush it through.
Irish Water control, leakage and local schemes
He said Irish Water "have too much control" and criticised plans such as pumping water from the Shannon to Dublin while noting 48% leakage - "fix the leaks first", he said. He recalled a successful local group water scheme run by his late father-in-law that serves around 600 houses and argued such local schemes are not being respected or supported.
Costs, treatment plants and river ecology
He raised questions about the true cost of extracting, pumping and treating water and complained that some towns have pristine-looking water yet lack vegetation, eels or trout after treatment. He warned about what is being added in filtration and treatment plants and urged closer examination of treatment processes and their ecological impacts.
Farming rules, slurry spreading and sewage pollution
He challenged EU-driven calendar months for slurry spreading and said rules can unfairly penalise farmers, calling for a local reviewer to vet EU measures. He also highlighted raw sewage discharges from villages in his county, saying the EPA mostly monitors and that he had witnessed untreated sewage flowing downstream from outlet pipes.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Minister O' I was very complimenting you earlier on tonight with the Bill of Academy, and many other pieces of work that you have done since you took over your position, but this is crazy, and I said last night to Minister Dara O'Brien, Deputy Mayor has called them bills, I'm calling them acts, you were both last night to back minister that Dara O'Brien, Minister O'Brien had brought forward 22 acts, I said he's not in the Gaty or the Abbey, this is the House of Parliament, where I was supposed to have the House of Parliament, have proper scrutiny of legislation, it's like John Wayne and the way all Westerns, I mean not just on your belt, this is gung-ho, this is crazy. My late father-in-law Nicholas Schellnock was the Chairman of the Tidavenant Group Water Scheme, him and Sean Clefton, one of the most successful schemes, one of the biggest schemes, 600 houses, I have no-one called in a shot, and that, and a wonderful scheme, they still have control over and they're not being respected or supported at all but we have wires water is gay and every you call it what you like give it new fancy Irish names and whatever and they're running amok do what they like and in deference to their belief is Morris I I have a problem with pumping water from the Shannon up to Dublin when there's 48% leakage fix the leaks first and then I'm not hanty Dublin at all but we have a huge issue with water and I said this here this morning in another debate 12 hours ago or more now and that I want to talk about climate change to talk about every IRA was a book alone a breaking ice on the ponds before the cows are done from the cow house not to be milked I reckon with a sledge a seven-pound sledge or maybe sometimes a 14-pound sledge we can hardly lift them to break the ice was so tick so we're being attacked and indoctrinated and all measures that way as well but Irish water have too much control and we have a clean we're clean rivers and things and we all want clean water but I understand we would definitely this mother's we take the water from source and we pump it into the treatment plant costing a fortune of course now his waters is free to everybody except business people farmers and any and and and the cost of the water was never explained in that debate would be filled in for so I called him at the time former mr. Hogan the cost of extracting is the cost of pumping it and treating it I and then pumping it on and keep maintaining the service is enormous so there's nothing to be water if you do water like I did with a hostile care and pump it from a pump inside the road with my brother older brother and I find that drugs into battles and try to feed give it to cattle and you know this to give it to cattle on a heat in a heat wave day and they knock you off the thing and you couldn't do so water is a value of results great to have it and it must be respected but Irish water can't get all these powers and ESP as well and you know much more about what goes on in the channel than I do I only hear about her pass through see the flooding when the box of morning was here and listen to him but the way that they maintain the levels there and the dams are and and and the way the two farmers suffer but instead of the carrot and steak we all the time have to see the bottom more and tell that we're immunizing the farmers as if they're as if they're evil people there's a lot there's an odd very odd now at this stage a careless farmer who might have sorry spills I might have wasted some mice no family's going to spread story in a wet day and wet weather and it's all calendar months now which is crazy it should be it should be how many conditions we spread your slurry as they'd want to do to get the maximum benefit but not runoffs and they don't want to have runoffs but you have calendar months only is EU decisions so we need somebody here to do a special officer up here for BS detection what comes from the EU and I won't describe what I mean by BS I think most people understand it and to be unparliamentary if I did and it's just shocking and I honestly believe that I mean every family should be able to get the water from his own door passing by him and use it because the cattle didn't turn on go since the cows were standing in the river and the cattle and the bullocks the heart drinking for the river and the sheep and as a sheep family myself on my son is family now in the mountains and knock my downs they get the water from the little streams and they drink them they're happy and they graze and I find the sheep you get I demand one they came into my office in time man throw me a veil of honey and he said I made my liver and he said my brother out of kitchen is in the river sure and selling him to come and I am so unfortunately come and I am his deadly building and I spoke with it today as well and he said now there's not a need and we were sure I was paying no treatment plan as we're having caught it easily and we're having and many other towns and the water is pristine clear looking but what the heads are we treating with because there's not a vegetarian doesn't there's not vegetation and there's not an eel there's nothing in it so I will hear more ham than good with it with the filtration process of what we're adding to the water and what what ingredients is going into it and those treatment plants I think we are because something has changed that does not an eel or any other feed trout running heads in the river sort of those treatment plants and I'll finish like with this last John call up you'll be delighted to know the damage and the pollution being done by villages in my county a good name 30 that up spune raw sewage into the rivers and the EPA is mostly monitoring and I met them one day in the river show in my old village and I was going in chicken I said we're not going down 300 yards downstream below the outlet pipe put out the pipe from a big tank a lot more just an ordinary no treatment benching into the river so the people are sick into holidays and it's all sticked in and punishment and labeling and licensing for farmers and the EPA it only blind eyes are the biggest polluters of all we have it on the coast here in Dublin as well we have it many places and cities and losing our green flags a blue flag status everything else and and and just to finish my family have traditionally potato growers and a couple of dry summers in recent years they needed water for large volumes of water to to irrigate the land and it's terrible to God you can't get it out of the river must say they were going to drain the river dry they've no water for the fish no not reckless that they couldn't get one they can't get water they were at a license and permission definitely if it's Morris is right I wouldn't go as far as the bedrooms in the houses but certainly big brothers watching us here to where we wash work and play and rinse and do everything else and many today we had no running water and we did it all out under the bushes and what for in spare
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
