Rural Mayo communities still prevented from accessing public water – TD

A Mayo TD has highlighted government restrictions on funding for community water connections, brought in under Minister Darragh O’Brien, that are preventing villages in Mayo from accessing clean, public water.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh outlined: “It’s shocking that in areas of Mayo, some rural communities are without access to clean public water.

"In Kilbride and Carrowmore, just outside Ballycastle, there are 14 households and 18 farms that are refused access to safe public water and are reliant on small private schemes.

"Under the latest framework for the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme 2024-2026 under Minister O’Brien, small communities like those in Carrowmore and Kilbride will not be included in applications for funding because there is now a minimum requirement of 25 households.

“These are families trying to work, live, raise families and livestock without access to clean, public water – and there are other villages and communities across Mayo in the same situation.

“Families and farmers like those in Carrowmore and Kilbride are reliant on getting their drinking water from small private supplies which may not be monitored or registered.

“We already know that water quality is a huge issue for those reliant on private supplies. Yet, according to a recent EPA report on water quality, the government had an underspend of €38.5 million of government support for water improvement.

“This is shocking in 2024 – we hear government ministers constantly boasting about how well-off we are, yet they are refusing to fund small communities in rural Ireland to allow them access to clean safe water."