Sinn Fein TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has called on the ESB to clarify what exactly is the root cause of the increasing amount of power failures in parts of Tallaght. The Tallaght based Deputy said that the power supply had failed on Sunday and Monday nights in estates throughout Springfield and Jobstown and that the supply failures were impacting negatively on residents, including sporting, community and business life in the area.

Deputy Sean Crowe said: "As a resident and public representative living in the Tallaght area, I have written to the ESB in regards to what many constituents feel is the unacceptable and regular loss of power supply to the area.

"On Monday power was cut off from a number of estates for the second night in a row. On Sunday the problem was much more widespread, for a number of hours in different parts of Tallaght like Jobstown and Springfield.

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"Already there have been approximately four or five power failures this year.

"I am a requesting a report be made public, outlining why this is happening in this specific location. The failures are not just an awkward inconvenience but in some cases are causing real hardship for local residents.

"The power failures, depending on the length of time, also affect home security, (Tallaght has reported the highest amount of attempted burglaries in the State), leads to food spoilage in many homes that can ill afford these substantial losses, and also has an impact on the sporting, community and business life in the area.

"A number of residents have been informed that the failures are directly down to system overload or antiquated equipment not being able to meet peak power demand.

"Whatever the actual cause, residents want security of supply and they want to know what is causing this breakdown.

"I have written to the ESB asking them to clarify what exactly is happening in the area, how many houses have been effected, the extent of the problem, the frequency over the last 12 months, and what short term and long term steps if any the company is taking to resolve this growing problem.

"If fault lies with failures within the supply company then customers in the areas effected deserve and apology and should be fully compensated."

(CD)