Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 553: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of funding provided for capital works on the provision and upgrading of public waste water services each year since 1990 to date in 2012; the capital provision for waste water services in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1019/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The provision of public waste water services is provided via a multi-annual investment plan for the provision of major water and sewerage schemes. The current plan, Water Services Investment Programme 2010 – 2012, is available in the Oireachtas library, and sets out the plans for investment in major water services projects. Previous plans are also available in the Oireachtas library.

The table below shows the amount spent on the provision and upgrading of public wastewater services since 1990.

As responsibility for the administration of the Rural Water Programme has been devolved to local authorities since 1997, the selection and approval of individual proposals for funding is generally a matter for the water services authorities. The figures provided represent an estimated split of total expenditure between water supply and wastewater investment, based on general trends. Some elements of the data for the Water Services Investment Programme are based on similar estimations, as some projects can involve upgrades of both wastewater and water supply infrastructure.

The overall allocation for the provision of water services in 2012 is €371 million, of which €40 million refers to the Rural Water Programme. Funds under the Water Services Investment Programme are not allocated to specific scheme types on an annual basis, but are recouped to local authorities based on actual progress on schemes outlined in the investment programme. Similarly, the proportion of the spending in 2012 on wastewater infrastructure under the Rural Water Programme will be largely dependent on the project selection by local authorities during the course of the year as part of block allocations to made in the near future by the Department.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 554: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of current funding provided by him each year since 1990, including through the rates support grant for the maintenance and running of waste water systems throughout the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1020/12]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 555: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if funding received under the rate of support grant from central government can be used for the maintenance and running costs of municipal waste water systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1021/12]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 556: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if funding received under the rate support grant from him can be used to assist private households with the maintenance and running costs of private waste water systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1022/12]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 557: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the cost of maintaining and running municipal waste water systems is taken into account when deciding the allocation of the rate support grant or any other funding from his Department to local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1023/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 554 to 557, inclusive, together.

I presume the questions relate to General Purpose Grants from the Local Government Fund. General Purpose Grants, which replaced the Rate Support Grant in 1997, are my contribution to meeting the difference between the cost to local authorities of providing a reasonable level of day to day services (including water services) and the income available to them from local sources and from specific grants. For the purposes of allocations, a range of factors is taken into account, including each local authority's expenditure on, and income from, each service, and the overall amount of funding available for distribution. It is not possible to separate out the amount of these general purpose grants that were used to hand the operational cuts of water and wastewater services.

It is a matter for each local authority to prioritise its spending, within the resources available to it, across the range of services it provides. Equally, local authorities must ensure full value for money for the resources invested, and seek the maximum efficiency across their operations. In addition to the General Purpose Grant, a specific grant is made for certain operational and maintenance costs, mainly in respect of recently completed treatment plants to cover the first 24 months of operation and maintenance. This was introduced in 2005. The table below outlines the grant amounts in full since that date.

In relation to the costs of operating private wastewater treatment systems, the Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011, which provides for the establishment of a system of registration and inspection of septic tanks and other on-site systems, was published on 3 November 2011. I have indicated, during the consideration of the Bill in both the Dáil and the Seanad, that I will keep under review options to provide financial support to householders whose domestic wastewater treatment systems are deemed, following inspection, to require substantial remediation or upgrading. Any such support would have to take account of the overall very difficult budgetary situation.