Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Once again, the conflict in the Middle East has reached the edge of a dangerous and frightening precipice. The attacks by Hamas on Israel at the weekend have rightly been met with outrage in Ireland and internationally and I join in that condemnation unreservedly. There is no justification for targeting civilians and taking civilians hostage, and all hostages should be released immediately. Our thoughts are with everyone hurt and harmed and we hope for the safety of Irish citizen Kim Damti, who is missing.

These attacks have occurred against the backdrop of decades of deep injustice. Israel brutalises the Palestinian people daily. Palestinian self-determination is ruthlessly suppressed, and for decades the Israeli state has breached international law through collective punishment, annexation, the confiscation of lands and the imposition of an apartheid regime. All the while the international community has, at best, looked the other way and, at worst, has facilitated Israel's breaches of international law, undermining the pathway and efforts to achieve the agreed two-state solution.

As we speak, Israel's retaliation and collective punishment of Gaza is already under way. Israeli rockets rain down hell on an impoverished, beleaguered refugee population, half of whom are children. In the face of this overwhelming military bombardment they have no food, no medical infrastructure, no electricity, no fuel and no way out. Innocent men, women and children stare annihilation in the eye. The international community now faces an immediate test of its commitment to peace, justice and the upholding of democracy and self-determination. We need ceasefires, dialogue and the enforcement of international law. We need to see an end to the cycle of violence, an end to the occupation and an end to the apartheid.

I welcome the statement made by EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, who has called out Israel's bombardment as a violation of international law and who has insisted EU humanitarian aid to Palestine will continue. The Irish Government was absolutely right to intervene to help ensure this remained the case. Mr. Borrell has stated very clearly that political engagement and renewed commitment to a peace process can still yield progress, and I agree with him; there is hope.

Ireland can play an immensely positive role. Our history of oppression, colonisation and dispossession gives us a valuable perspective to make a real difference. The Irish peace process shows there is always a way to resolve even the most bitter, intractable situations. We must use all our diplomatic influence and be to the fore in driving a decisive international intervention in the Middle East. Is féidir le hÉireann ról ríthábhachtach agus dearfach a imirt i dtaca le bac a chur ar an bhforéigean breise agus chun bealach athnuaite chun na síochána a aimsiú sa Mheánoirthear. We need an all-Oireachtas approach in calling for a retreat from this terrifying precipice, to build the consensus in the Dáil for peace, the rule of international law, and for Palestinian human rights and self-determination, because the eyes of the international community are now wide open to the brutality and the escalation of the conflict. Mr. Borrell's powerful intervention reflects the international imperative to achieve a cessation of hostilities and an intervention that upholds the primacy of international law to bring about a just settlement and a lasting peace. The question for us and for the Government is what part Ireland plays in all this.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her question. I reiterate Ireland's total condemnation of the attack by Hamas and other militant groups on Israel and the devastating loss of life it has caused. Civilians were targeted. Young people, older people, children, peace activists were killed or taken hostage. In these circumstances, Israel has the right to defend itself. It is surrounded by enemies, many of whom want to see Israel wiped off the map, or as they say, from the mountains to the sea. It is critical the right to defend itself is done within the parameters of international humanitarian law, with a response that is proportionate, and protection of civilians and de-escalation must be a priority. Israel has united itself in response to these attacks and is gaining a lot of solidarity from other parts of the world, but I believe that will evaporate very quickly if the Israeli response in Gaza and elsewhere is disproportionate. There must be restraint and there must be no attacks on civilian infrastructure. If it is unacceptable for the President of Russia to target power stations and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, then the same must apply to the Israeli Government and the actions it takes on targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza.

In addition to that, I give the assurance that Irish aid will continue, as will EU aid. That aid is not aid for Hamas; it is aid for Palestinian civilians and they need it to have any form of decent existence. Certainly we will not support any suspension of Irish or EU aid, provided the money goes to the Palestinian people and not to Hamas.

As to Ireland's role, we will do all we can at an EU level and all we can at a UN level. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is very much engaged in that effort. As I said, we have a long-standing commitment to supporting humanitarian aid and development projects in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories. Our funding provides emergency assistance to the most vulnerable while also assisting the Palestinian Authority in public service delivery in the West Bank. The funding is €16 million this year and that will continue.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the Taoiseach's confirmation of the fact that aid will continue to the Palestinian people and his insistence, quite correctly, that the rule of law be applied equally, without fear or favour, that the Israeli state is not exempt from the rules that apply to all others, and that the Palestinian people have rights that are inalienable and that must be vindicated, not just now in a time of acute conflict but always. Here is the problem: for far too long, day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out and year and year out, the Palestinian experience has been one of desertion by the international community. Now has to be a moment where we see a step-change, where we see clarity of purpose and leadership and where it is made clear to everybody, including Mr. Netanyahu and his Administration, including all concerned in the Israeli state, that they cannot play fast and loose as a rogue state in violating again and again the most basic rights of the Palestinian people. Will the Taoiseach confirm for us that will be the baseline position of the Irish Government and State?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The baseline position of the Irish Government is that we can only bring peace to the region through a two-state solution. That becomes increasingly difficult with every day that passes and every settlement that is built, but we still believe the best and only solution that will bring peace to the region is a two-state solution, and that is the outcome we strongly support. There has to be a willingness on both sides for that to be the case. Deputy McDonald has called out the Prime Minister of Israel and what would appear to be his unwillingness to engage meaningfully in peace talks in the way his predecessors did. Whether it was Ariel Sharon, Yitzhak Rabin or Ehud Barak, all sought a two-state solution but it has to come from the other side too and I do not see that leadership in Palestine.

I certainly do not see it from Hamas. Hamas is hell bent on the destruction of Israel, on wiping Israel off the face of the earth. It must change that policy. It must renounce terrorism and violence as a means to achieve its political objectives, just as people did on this island. That is what we expect to see from Hamas.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Like others, I want to speak about the terrible events unfolding in Israel and Palestine. On behalf of the Labour Party, I condemn outright the appalling slaughter by Hamas of civilians at the weekend. The targeting of Israeli civilians, of women and children, by Hamas was appalling and horrific to see. We believe the hostages must be released, as my colleague Deputy Howlin said in a statement on Sunday. Since Saturday, we have all watched in horror as we heard more detail about the attacks. We heard of attacks on young people attending a music festival, on children in their own homes, and the thought of parents who are still unable to make contact with their children, not even knowing if they are alive or dead, is unbearable. The thought of an Irish citizen, Kim Damti, being among those who are now missing and whose safety is unknown, is unbearable. Our thoughts are with her family and with all those affected.

Our thoughts are also with the people of Gaza today. At the weekend, we in the Labour Party called for restraint by Israel in response to the Hamas attack, but since then we have all watched, in grave dismay, as Israel has unleashed missile attacks on residential areas in Gaza and cut off vital services to the civilian population. Israel has effectively placed the people of Gaza under siege, indefinitely it seems, with more than 1 million children now being subject to collective punishment in Gaza without any way of escaping. These actions by Israel must also be condemned outright. Indeed, both the Hamas attack and the Israeli response have already resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and we are seeing the region being plunged again into a terrible abyss of violence, with neither side to benefit and civilians bearing the brunt.

There are two statements about the situation which should not attract controversy. One is that, of course, Palestinians have the right to assert and defend their human rights in the face of decades of oppression and occupation. I personally, and the Labour Party, have a long track record of supporting Palestinians' right to self-determination, but the actions of Hamas, in deliberately targeting civilians must be condemned. Israeli citizens have a right to go about their business without fear of attack. The second statement, which is also important and should not be controversial, is that the Israeli Government must be condemned for engaging in collective punishment. It must be condemned for besieging Gaza, targeting civilian infrastructure and breaching international law. These two statements should not attract controversy, and it is a zero-sum game in international politics where they do and where it is thought that one and the other cannot be said together.

The reality is that despite the awful conflict deepening and despite the issue being raised so often at an international level, the international community has failed ordinary people in Israel and Gaza and in Palestine generally. Right now, it is impossible to see a situation where matters do not get worse.

The Taoiseach knows a diplomatic failure at international level requires a diplomatic response, from us in Ireland as much as at an international level. At an international level, what is Ireland's response to the conflict? How will the Irish Government continue to work, both at EU and UN level? It is important the Government condemns not only the brutality of Hamas but also the siege tactics and breaches of international law being deployed by the Israeli Government. How are we in Ireland working to bring international pressure to bear, as the Taoiseach just said, to calm the situation and to restore the focus on building a two-state solution, a lasting peace settlement in accordance with international law?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Bacik's broad comments, that those two statements should not be contradictory. It is very sad that in so many parts of the world, including in the US and in large parts of Europe, it is not possible to say what Deputy Bacik just said. Thankfully, in Ireland it is possible to say it. The Palestinian people do have the right to self-determination and to seek the establishment of their own state, their own homeland. However, that does not extend to attacking music festivals, taking hostages, or attacking children, the kind of things that Hamas has done which fundamentally undermine the cause of the Palestinian people and weaken their case for statehood. When it comes to Israel, what it is doing in Gaza is not acceptable either. It is not okay to cut off power supplies to the civilian population, it is not okay to cut off the water and it is not okay to target civilian infrastructure. We are all very clear on that in this House, across the different parties. It is a good thing we can, in Ireland, have at least that level of consensus on this issue.

In terms of what we can do, we are engaging with our partners at UN level. There was an emergency meeting of the EU foreign affairs ministers yesterday, which the Tánaiste participated in, and we are making a very strong case for restraint and de-escalation. We do not want to see this flare up in the West Bank, in Lebanon and in other places. That plays into the hands of Hezbollah, Iran and the extreme right in Israel. We want to make sure we do not see an escalation. We will also very strongly make the case for continuing to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, who are innocent victims in all of this.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his response and agree that it is good to have a level of consensus in this House, and indeed in the country, on the appropriate response to the horrific violence we have seen unleashed. It is very positive to see Ireland as a voice, at both EU and international level, calling for restraint from Israel following the events at the weekend and a voice for the continuance of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza and Palestine. That is very positive.

It would also be very positive to see Ireland taking a strong position on support for Palestinian statehood and for the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill, which the Labour Party was proud to support and help Senator Frances Black to shepherd through Seanad Éireann. There is a need for a unity of purpose on the Palestinian right to self-determination to come forward from this House and this country, while at the same time, as the Taoiseach said, we must be clear about condemning outright the brutality of Hamas that we saw at the weekend.

I would also say there is an issue at a domestic or national level, where we have seen a real toxicity in public discourse on social media. Ireland is home to so many tech giants and there is an important role for us to play in seeking regulation of online discourse to address the sort of toxicity of debate-----

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Hear, hear.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

-----where those two statements I made are seen, somehow, in some quarters as contradictory, in order that it is not allowed to undermine efforts to achieve a peace settlement for the sake of all of those children in Gaza and all of those children and civilians in Israel too.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We often talk about the term "culture wars" and I am not even sure what the term means sometimes, but some of the discourse I have seen online makes it feel like some sort of culture war, that you have to choose sides and you have to be either entirely on one side or on the other. However, we all know the world is more complicated than that. Wrongs have been committed on both sides. This conflict has historic origins. Wrongs were done to the Arab people of Palestine and wrongs were done to the Jews in Europe and the Arab world. Any conflict has an historical context and we all understand that and bear it in mind. Certainly, the position of Ireland, as I said in my earlier response, is to use our influence, to the extent that we have it, and we do have some, in the UN and the EU to call for restraint, de-escalation and respect for basic human rights and decency all round, and to continue to support the humanitarian efforts of agencies, particularly the UN, on the ground.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach said that it is not okay for Israel to attack civilians and civilian infrastructure and to threaten to starve the people of Gaza. It most certainly is not okay; it is a war crime. The Israeli Government has brazenly, publicly and openly declared its intention to commit a war crime, and has commenced that war crime against the people of Gaza. It has said it intends to starve 2.2 million people of food, electricity and water. That is a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel is raining down thousands of the most sophisticated missiles known to humanity onto the most densely populated area in the world, carrying the certainty that almost every missile will incur civilian casualties, will destroy and is destroying civilian infrastructure, including the water and energy infrastructure, making Gaza uninhabitable, and, according to very credible reports, is using chemical weapons, as it did in the past.

White phosphorous is being used by Israel. The Taoiseach tries to suggest there is some symmetry and equivalence between the actions of Hamas and what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians for decades. Will he admit that the terrible loss of life and escalation of violence that we have seen in recent days is simply a continuation of the crimes against humanity and the war crimes of the State of Israel against the people of Palestine?

It is not me saying this. The Taoiseach has read, or should have read, the reports of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine and the UN Human Rights Council on the issue of Palestine which we asked him to read and act on. Does he know the Israeli state will not even allow the UN special rapporteur on Palestine or the UN Human Rights Council into the occupied territories because it knows that they will bear witness to the ongoing ethnic cleansing, illegal annexation of territory and arbitrary detention of Palestinians without trial? There is no justice and no sanctions when they assassinate a journalist like Shireen Abu Akleh with impunity. What do we actually get? We get the head of the most powerful state in the world, while Israel is threatening to commit war crimes against Palestine, saying they are going to give them more weapons and arms and they support them absolutely.

Will the Taoiseach admit that the ultimate responsibility for the terrible loss of life, and every single loss of life is terrible, is the failure of the United states, the European Union and the western powers to hold to account Israel for ongoing decades-long ethnic cleansing, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the denial of the most basic rights to the Palestinian people? As Gideon Levy, a Jewish Israeli columnist, said yesterday, Israel cannot imprison 2 million Gazans without paying a cruel price. Is that not the truth?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I believe Israel has the right to exist. Israel was established by the United Nations in accordance with international law. It has the right to exist. I hope the Deputy will agree and will say that in his follow-up response. As any sovereign state, it has the right to defend itself when it is under attack. I can understand why Israel needs to take action to root out terrorists and people who fire rockets at civilians into Israel. Israel is absolutely within its rights to defend itself and to go after Hamas. That does not extend to cutting off electricity to civilian populations, cutting off water and preventing food from entering the Gaza Strip. We are very clear on that in terms of the position of the Irish Government. Basic principles of human rights must apply and they apply to Israel too.

I know the Deputy's support for Palestine is sincere, but I am a little bit disappointed that he has not said anything about Hamas and Hezbollah or any of their actions in his remarks. In fairness to Deputy McDonald, she did, as did Deputy Bacik. I would like to give the Deputy the opportunity to add to what he said earlier - not to take anything back - by saying that he accepts Israel has the right to exist, the right to sovereignty, statehood and security, and that he agrees that the actions of Hamas and Hezbollah for decades, in targeting Israeli civilians, kidnapping Israelis and others, are wrong, have contributed to the conflict and have made it harder to find a solution.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I want to see an end to all killing, all violence, all death, and the release of all prisoners and hostages.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Condemn Hamas. It is not that hard.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The problem here is that I do not believe an apartheid regime has the right to exist anywhere. I do not believe a regime that engages in ongoing daily, weekly and monthly ethnic cleansing of another group of people based on their race or ethnicity-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

-----which is what Israel is doing, has the right to perpetrate those crimes. These are crimes against humanity. This is a regime that for decades has denied UN resolutions calling for the right of return of Palestinians, millions of whom have been ethnically cleansed since 1948, and are living in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, cast to the winds of the world. They are denied statehood, denied identity, denied history and they have the right to return, but Israel shoots them down if they try and assert that right, as happened to the Great March of Return. Let us remember that. Peaceful demonstrations in 2018 by the people of Gaza, who were attempting to assert their right to return, were shot down. At the time, the UN called for investigations on that episode for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Will the Taoiseach call for sanctions against the apartheid regime of Israel? Will he call for the European Union and the United States to stop arming that regime to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Of course, he will not.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Israel has the right to exist.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

He will not condemn Hamas.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

He will not condemn Hamas

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed in the Deputy's remarks.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed with the Taoiseach's remarks.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

He mentioned UN resolutions. Israel was established by a UN resolution. He did not say that. Israel is a sovereign state. It is the closest thing to a democracy in that region. It has a right to exist and defend itself.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

An apartheid state is not a democracy.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Deputy may describe it as-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Millions of Palestinians have no rights and no votes.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach, without interruption, please.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Deputy may well describe it as an apartheid state-----

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Amnesty International would too.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

-----but let me ask him this. The Deputy and I could live our lives freely in Israel, me as a gay man and the Deputy as a revolutionary socialist. Neither of us would be able to live our lives freely in Gaza. We would not, because of the oppression that would be imposed on people like the Deputy and me.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I lived there; I know exactly what it is like.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Deputy Seán Canney, please.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I want to change the subject matter to housing, which is a very pressing matter in this country. My concern relates to the lack of wastewater treatment plants in our towns and villages in our country. I know that back in April 2022, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage announced €50 million in funding for wastewater treatment plants. He asked every local authority to submit two proposals so that they could be assessed. Today is 11 October, and we still have not seen any of these projects progressing. I know that Galway County Council submitted proposals for projects in two places out of 38 that require wastewater treatment plants. One of them was Clarinbridge and the other was Craughwell. There are 36 more villages and towns that are frozen out of the planning system because they cannot get planning permission to build any type of estate there because the wastewater treatment plants are not there.

I will concentrate on Craughwell for a moment because it is in my own constituency. It was 1998, when Galway won the All-Ireland final, 25 years ago, when Galway County Council first made a proposal to the Department with responsibility for housing to build a wastewater treatment plant in Craughwell. Today, we have housing estates that were built with package treatment plants which have reached the end of their lifespan. They are not being maintained, there is nobody taking responsibility and it is being thrown back on the residents. Irish Water will not touch them and Galway County Council says it is Irish Water's problem. At the same time, there is raw sewage pouring out of these during the winter when the water table is high.

This is an environmental issue and a housing issue. If we keep trudging along the way we are going, we will not be able to achieve growth in these centres, which are going to serve the likes of Galway city. We need to have houses in areas like Clarinbridge, Abbeyknockmoy, Corrofin and Laban to serve Dexcom, which is coming to Athenry. We need to make sure we have housing and people living close to these centres of work. At the moment, in my village of Corofin, you cannot build a house in the village where we have prime land ready for development. The reason is because An Bord Pleanála has decided that any development is premature pending the completion of a public wastewater treatment plant.

At the same time, we have five housing estates, together with a local authority housing estate, working on package treatment plants, which are, as I said, an environmental issue as well as everything else. The €50 million that was put in, and I say this in honesty, would not even cover the cost of what needs to be done in County Galway. I have spoken to officials in different local authorities around the country. I suggest that €500 million from the national development fund that is being created in the budget would help to set out a plan by which we would get rid of the existing package treatment plants as well as provide the infrastructure necessary to start building houses in our communities.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of wastewater treatment plants in east Galway. Deputy Cannon raised this with me last week, particularly in relation to Craughwell and Clarinbridge. A new funding stream was launched by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in April under the multi-annual rural water programme for the wastewater collection and treatment needs of villages and small settlements without access to public wastewater services. All rural local authorities were asked to submit suitable applications for funding for two priority locations by 15 September of last year. Twenty or so schemes came in from across the country and an independent expert panel critically evaluated each of the applications received. Based on a report from the panel, a decision on funding will be made by the Minister shortly. I checked with him this morning and he indicated to me that he should be able to make a decision within the next few weeks but certainly no later than the end of the year. Once the decision is made, local authorities will be notified of the outcome of their applications.

From a broader Government point of view, we believe small towns and small villages have a role to play when it comes to relieving the housing crisis and indeed in providing much-needed housing for an increased population and our growing economy. That can be done in two ways: first, ensuring villages have the infrastructure they need to allow for natural expansion, with maybe a few new houses being built every year and serviced sites being provided to people close to the village; and second, through the Croí Cónaithe fund and the grants we are offering people to take on vacant or derelict buildings, refurbish them and bring them back into use. We can do two things here, namely, breathe life back into old buildings and turn them into homes, and also provide for a small limited amount of natural increase by investing in infrastructure so that every small town and village can grow and make a contribution to what we need to do to alleviate the housing crisis.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The first thing I would say is that the local authorities submitted their applications in September 2022. We are now gone 13 months and maybe in another two months we might have a decision. That is not the end of the story. It is only then that the local authorities will start the procurement of consultants, the design and the procurement of sites. We will probably see these treatment plants coming on stream in about five years' time if we are lucky. We need to tackle this issue as a national issue. We need to put in place a proper plan to see how we are going to provide the infrastructure for the future and tidy up the mess of the past, with all of these package plants that are not being serviced or maintained in our towns and villages.

I agree that the Croí Cónaithe scheme, which I am a great supporter of, is working. However, in Corofin, for instance, there are maybe one or two vacant properties in the village and we have the capability of building maybe 100 houses in that village. It is the same thing in Abbeyknockmoy and in Carrabane, which has two housing estates, a pub and a school. It is frozen. They are all frozen in terms of planning. They cannot get planning permission and the chances of them getting a municipal treatment plant within the very short period of three, four or five years is non-existent unless we have a strategic plan whereby every year we roll out so many of them, so there can be a steady stream of projects being carried out.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There are two aspects to this. The first is bringing vacant and derelict buildings back into use. I am glad to hear there are not many in Corofin but the Deputy will know as well as I do that there are many towns and villages in Ireland where there is a lot of dereliction. Our first priority has to be town centres and village centres first and bringing those vacant buildings back to life. We are offering people grants to do that. We have also given local authorities a CPO fund - rather, a purchase fund - of €150 million, which they can use to buy buildings and bring them back into use. The other area that is important is allowing for a certain amount of natural increase for any town or village. We want to avoid urban sprawl and unnecessary commuting but every town and village should be able to have a certain level of natural increase, particularly for people who come from the area who want to move back or people who want to stay in the area in which they grew up. That is what this €50 million fund is all about. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has said to me that he will be able to make the allocations before the end of the year. Let us see how that goes. If it works well, there is no reason we could not add to that €50 million fund down the line. That will obviously be part of the national development plan review in a few months' time.