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Investigatesmuddied watersTHOUSANDS OF PEOPLE are missing out on compensation from Uisce Éireann by complaining to their public representatives rather than the company itself.
New figures show there were just 166 complaints made by individuals to Uisce Éireann in the first half of 2024 – but in the same period, TDs and councillors raised almost 8,500 issues from constituents with the company, bypassing the compensation process.
Customers can only apply for a payout if they have complained directly to the company.
Uisce Éireann - formerly known as Irish Water – initially refused a request from The Journal Investigates under the Freedom of Information Act asking how many customers had received compensation.
The state-owned company argued that it “would not be in the public interest” for the figures to be reported, as it could lead to an “increase in the number of claims made”.
After being challenged on this by our reporter, it provided the figures.
If the number of people who complained to their public representatives instead complained to Uisce Éireann, the company could end up paying out tens or even hundreds of thousands more every year.
While the number of payouts has almost doubled in the last two years, the figures remain low: there were just over 160 payouts for the whole of 2024, totalling just €4,895 in compensation.
Customers who complain to Uisce Éireann and do not get a response within 5 working days with a plan to solve the problem, or do not get an update after 10 days – are entitled to a €30 payout – but many don’t know that.
The complaints section of the Uisce Éireann website does not mention that compensation is available to people who have to wait too long for their issue to be addressed. Instead, it is buried in a link on the page.
Additionally, if someone makes a claim and Uisce Éireann doesn’t send them the €30 within 30 working days, they’re entitled to an additional €15.
The number of people complaining to the company and to public representatives shows the scale of water problems in the country – and issues in how the complaints are being dealt with.
€30 is an insult really when you have to live with bad water quality. Even the €100 they sent me was an insult.
Rebecca*, who lives in Leinster, had significant issues with the water in her home for three years before it was resolved.
She says it’s not about the money, but rather how Uisce Éireann treats its customers.
The water never ran clear from the time she moved in, in 2021. “So many white items were discoloured in the washing machine, some of them nearly turned orange.”
She estimates that she sent “hundreds” of emails to Uisce Éireann in that time. They assured her they were taking it seriously and would fix the problem. She was not aware that there was compensation available.
Rebecca enlisted the help of a local councillor. Eventually, she says, Uisce Éireann stopped responding to her and would only respond to the councillor.
“You were never given a time frame or even a ballpark of when any work was going to take place,” she told The Journal Investigates.
“I thought that this was us forever. I was even thinking, are we just gonna have to sell the house and move out? Because you can’t go on with water like this. It’s just utter madness.”
The company randomly sent her €100 for the inconvenience – more than the usual €30 payout – but by that time she had spent over €500 on filters and replacing parts, as well as €215 on getting her water tested.
“It’s really, really bad customer service for a company that is state funded. It’s not on.”
In a statement, Uisce Éireann cited the Commission for Regulation of Utilities’s (CRU) 2022 report which said the percentage of complaints resolved within five working days was 98%. It says it’s enhanced the complaints process since then. The 2023/24 figures have not yet been approved for publishing by the regulator.
Uisce Éireann also said it established a free text-based outage notification service which provides water supply information to customers who sign up.
In data provided to The Journal Investigates by Uisce Éireann, of the 166 complaints received in the first half of 2024, 51% of people were satisfied with the outcome, while 42% were not. The rest of the complaints made between January and June 2024 are either still in progress or were resolved through “good will”.
Some 39 complaints were from customers who reported becoming ill from consuming their water. In a statement, Uisce Éireann said this “does not represent actual proven illnesses caused by drinking water”.
Of the remainder, 66 complaints were related to outages and all others were to do with water quality, including discolouration.
Nearly one third of all complaints submitted to Uisce Éireann by individuals were from Cork, and around 10% of emails from Oireachtas members come from representatives of the county.
Trade union Unite recently sent water samples from Cork City and surrounding areas to a HSE laboratory for testing.
They say the tests showed excessive levels of manganese at over 300 μg/l and iron at over 600 μg/l. The laboratory said that “water with these levels of iron and manganese is not suitable for human consumption” and said that “treatment is recommended”.
John Ó Ríordáin, who lives in Ballyvolane in Cork City, has had dirty water at least once per week since his area became connected to the city’s water supply in 2022. He said he’s logged around 30 complaints, but each time he receives one of two responses “word for word”.
“I’d much prefer if someone just came straight out and said the pipes are fucked and will be for the next eight years until we can replace them,” Ó Ríordáin said.
“At least then I would know if I need to invest in higher quality filters.”
Ó Ríordáin also says he can’t run the dishwasher or washing machine at the same time as the shower, or the water will go brown.
He has not received a payout, and was not aware of the compensation scheme.
In Cork, there are extensive problems with the water pipes, and it’s understood that an overhaul of the system is what’s needed to permanently improve water quality. Uisce Éireann has recently flushed the pipes, but some say it’s made little difference
Ó Ríordáin is considering buying a €400 reverse osmosis filter. He says that while he doesn’t expect Uisce Éireann to pay for it, he thinks a government fund, similar to grants for energy efficient home upgrades, should be established for people living in areas with poor water quality.
Mattie McGrath TD, who sent the most emails of any Oireachtas member to Uisce Éireann last year, said some of his constituents in Tipperary South go “weeks” at a time without clean water, but dealing with Uisce Éireann is “very frustrating”. “You’ll get a response, but it’s just useless.”
He says he believed he had arranged a meeting with a representative from Uisce Éireann at one point, but right before it they “went off the radar” and “wouldn’t answer the phones”.
“You can’t deal with them.”
Despite the large volume of complaints they are making, representatives at a local and national level feel they are not being heard.
In Cork City, the council has requested a meeting with Uisce Éireann’s CEO Niall Gleeson multiple times, but he has repeatedly refused.
In a response to the council, seen by The Journal Investigates, Uisce Éireann said it was “not in a position” to send any representative to a meeting.
Councillor Shane O’Callaghan says it shows “a total lack of respect”.
O’Callaghan said he doesn’t understand why people like the CEO of the National Transport Authority and the Garda Commissioner will come before the council “no problem” but the head of Uisce Éireann won’t.
“They should be accountable to the people of Cork and the people of Ireland,” he told The Journal Investigates.
IRISH WATER UPDATE: Last September, Cork City Council passed my motion and lodged a formal complaint with the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) regarding the consistent failure by the management of Uisce Éireann to tackle the persistent problems of water… pic.twitter.com/jM4pWjCW3j
— Shane O'Callaghan (@CllrShaneOC) February 28, 2025
Cork City Council made a complaint to the CRU about Uisce Éireann’s unwillingness to cooperate. In its response, the CRU said the attendance of Uisce Éireann representatives at council meetings is not a matter for the CRU, but it did note five briefings Uisce Éireann held for Oireachtas and council members in 2024.
Uisce Éireann said: “Recognising the significance of the issue of water quality in Cork City to elected representatives, Uisce Éireann commenced a series of dedicated briefings last year and have held a number of engagements to date that have been attended by senior management from Uisce Éireann.”
It was to meet with the council at the end of February, but this was postponed for a month, as Uisce Éireann now says it wants to meet first with the council executive only.
If your water supply has been disrupted and you weren’t given a plan within the timeframe, you can make a compensation claim by emailing customerservice@water.ie
And let us know how you got on by writing to investigates@thejournal.ie
*Name has been changed
Reporter: Mairead Maguire • Investigation Editor: Christine Bohan • The Journal Investigates Editor: Maria Delaney • Main Image Design: Lorcan O’Reilly • Video: Nicky Ryan
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Makes you cry. Govt body keeping secrets, from the public.
@micheal duff: fix the pipes with your billions instead of spending on useless things.
hello ??.. ah yes there is nobody home… too busy with with rights and speech.
@micheal duff: I wonder Buster do the people you steal their profile picture know you use them on this site with your multiple profiles?
@micheal duff: so basically Journal Investigates in conjunction with Irish Water need to build a case for water levies directly on households and needs to build evidence through consumer complaints of unsustainable infrastructure in order to build that case to Gov, for to make another push to further this agenda.
Why didn’t the TDs and councillors direct their constituents to make a direct complaint? In fairness, everyone should know to make a complaint to the responsible entity – TD/councillor should only be a last resort. €30 compensation is an absolute insult and doesn’t even cover the time to make & follow up on the complaint. The attempt to block the foi request was equally pathetic – how can a state/semi state body claim that reporting the truth might be a bad thing? This country has really gone downhill.
@Social Guy: because once elected that was not their problem. not once they even made a statement about all that. they were forming a big gvt and got and still busy with speech rights and look after themselves. MM love nothing else to lecture everyone on international politics but never cared about the people. neutrality is not a concern either for him
@Social Guy: that’s how “national” politics work in this country… The gombeen way: fix the potholes and attend funerals.
I even know of a foreign (European) national getting his local TD to contact his embassy in Dublin to expedite a passport renewal. Seriously?
@Social Guy: Agree, but would like to add, 1) TD’s & local councillors more than likely don’t/didn’t know about the €30 compensation scheme, 2) people are getting lazy. If they can get someone else to complain on their behalf, it make life easy for them. The time it took to send a letter/email, or indeed, make an appointment to see their local government representative, they would have had a communication sent of to the company.
Just more fffg bolicitics. People, please relise fffg are a failure. They don’t care. It’s not rocket science.
@Paul Gorry: If they were a failure and the people realised it, how are they now in government again? Must be that people voted for them.
@Eoin McCarthy: No shi,t sherlock.
@Eoin McCarthy: people of this country are its own worst enemy…
Irish Water does not have customers. It is a state-owned Dept. Very unusual article. Because it’s a state owned dept, surely going your local representative is the correct move?
@pat fogarty: It’s not a department. It is a private company with the state as its largest shareholder. Company number 530363 (CRO).
@Stephen Fitzgerald: yes you are correct for the most part. Except for the “the state is its largest shareholder” don’t want to not pick but I think is important for everyone to know.
This is copied directly from Irish waters website on corporate governence –
“The shareholders of Uisce Éireann are the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and, on that basis, Uisce Éireann is a state-owned entity.”
So, the ONLY shareholders in uisce eireann are state bodies.
Ireland needs its very own DOGE, I can just imagine what corruption would come to light.
@Pelagius Asturias: never going to happen unfortunately
Our water filtration company from Wexford has proven in a year long pilot in Canada to prevent the carcinogenic chemical THM from forming in potable water.
In 2017 a prime time report stated over 170,000 people in Ireland were drinking water Exceeding the 100U/gl WHO guidelines for THM
After 7 months of paperwork we were granted a Zoom call with Uisce Éireann.
We offered to run a free pilot on any water treatment plant that was failing THM guidelines.
We were told that our proven filtration system would not work on THM’s in Ireland ?
They would not be taken us up on the offer of a free trial ?
We have offered free trials to Uisce Éireann on manganese and iron removal from potable Water which we have a proven to have a 90% reduction using our filtration system.
No reply to date?
@Les Walsh: that’s just weird and needs investigation
and Who set up Irish Water? TD’s and Senators along with the President signing stealth tax legislation on already crippled taxpayers.
In other words, ‘we don’t want people to know how big a problem it is because then they will know how big a problem it is’. Honestly, is there a single thing the government does well?
ireland + pharmaceutical =Dark waters
How can you get compensation for something you don’t pay for
@Max: I’m afraid that’s the country we live in now, want everything for nothing and compo for everything
@Martin Kenny: Guess you are retired with a good pension and maybe have a bit of property?
@donal finn: no, but please explain your reasons for that assumption
@Max: exactly.
@Martin Kenny: well said.How people come up with these assumptions is beyond me.Even if you were retired on a big pension and had property what has that got to do with it.
@Max: it’s long been established that we do pay for it through general taxation including, strangely ill admit, car tax….where do you think their funding comes from, the magic money tree…
@Max: you are entitled a good standard of customer service , which is in their charter. If they fail they pay.
@Max: if they failed to deliver proper customer service they pay.
Customers
Journal ‘reporter’? That’s a laugh. Get a proof reader while you are at it. FFG mouthpiece.
Is our water save to Drink ? is the question I want answered. I started drinking water from a “spring well” that is running constantly for the past few months and just the other day at work, I decided to get water from the cooler. Well, could I taste the difference. I thought I was back in the swimming pool where I swallowed the water there. OMG, is this safe I said to myself. 1st person I went to was one of our colleagues who is pregnant. Told her to stop drinking this water immediately and gave her directions to get the spring water to drink in future.
SSE Airtricity gas and electricity should be next up for an investigation into their so called customer service.
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