Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The rural water programme is a very important one. We are continuing to fund it. There are some legacy issues as well with poor infrastructure that was put in at a site level and we have a scheme to take those into charge and to rectify estates and wastewater treatment plants that are substandard. There are settlements that have grown which have wastewater infrastructure already in place. We work with Uisce Éireann as well on mechanisms to take such wastewater treatment plants in charge under its remit when a settlement reaches a certain population size. We will continue to invest in that.

I referred to the non-sewered villages. We have hundreds of settlements across the country that have no wastewater treatment at all. That is why we agreed the €50 million fund. We asked local authorities to apply to that and to bring forward potential schemes that they would have where the local authority owns the land and has planning permission in place to provide a wastewater treatment plant. We are carrying out those assessments right now. I hope to be able to make an announcement on those particular ones at or around Easter.