Boil water notices issued for Waterford, Tipperary and Cork as three-day strike under way

A number of boil water notices have been issued by Uisce Éireann as a result of the three-day strike action being taken by local authority water workers who are members of the Unite trade union.

On Wednesday, the authority said boil water notices would be in place until Friday for parts of Tipperary and Waterford, while Glashaboy in Cork will also be impacted from midnight on Thursday.

Uisce Éireann said the issuing of the notices was precautionary but that they “may remain in place for a number of days post-strike action as we work to ensure water is safe to drink”.

The plants affected in Waterford, Tipperary and Cork due to Unite action are Adamstown, Stradbally, Ballylaneen, Crotty’s Lake, Glenary and Poulavanogue, it said.

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“There may also be some disruption to water services, in particular the speed at which bursts to the water network are repaired in Waterford, Tipperary and Cork, but also in Kerry, South Dublin, Fingal and Carlow,” it added.

The authority said water must be boiled for drinking, making drinks, preparing uncooked food, brushing teeth and making ice.

It said water should be brought to a vigorous boil, whether in a kettle or pot, and allowed to cool. Hot water from the tap, it said, is not safe to drink.

“This dispute is not with Uisce Éireann and is outside our control but will impact on our customers,” said Uisce Éireann’s head of operations, Tom Cuddy.

“We have stood up our incident management team and are working closely with management in the local authorities to ensure that contingency plans are in place to minimise and manage disruptions to water and wastewater services.”

About 120 members of Unite are involved in the three-day action, which is about the proposed transfer of workers from local authorities to Uisce Éireann and guarantees with regard to the terms and conditions of those who choose not to move.

Siptu previously called off a proposed strike on much the same range of issues after accepting assurances from the Minister for Local Government, Darragh O’Brien.

“We would urge Unite to use the recognised dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve this issue and to engage with the relevant representative bodies. While industrial action is a right, we again call on Unite to provide guarantees that strike committees will comply with the codes of practice that ensure essential services are maintained for homes, hospitals and businesses,” said Mr Cuddy.

Unite has said it is available to discuss all of the issues.