Mr. Fintan Towey:

Good afternoon to the Chair and the members of the committee. I thank the committee for the invitation given to the Department to speak on the wastewater collection and treatment needs of villages and settlements that have not recently had access to public wastewater services. The Chair has introduced me and my team already so I will not repeat those introductions. I propose to limit my comments to the rural water sector as it is under the remit of my Department and as it relates to the questions asked. I will not be in a position to speak in detail on issues relating to Uisce Éireann.

The Department builds its water services strategic policy and infrastructure delivery programmes around Project Ireland 2040, the national development plan, the water services policy statement and the river basin management plan. Funding for water and wastewater services is delivered primarily through Uisce Éireann. However, in addition, and in line with policy objectives, the Department provides significant funding to the rural water sector under the multiannual rural water programme. Funding is provided for the needs of the sector and in support of sustainable improvements and developments in rural areas, including Gaeltacht areas. Investment and funding provided through the programme is aimed at ensuring Ireland meets its legal obligations as set out under the water framework directive. It is a strategic objective of the rural water programme to use Exchequer funding in a cost-effective manner to deliver improvements to the quality, reliability and efficiency of water services for areas of rural Ireland where there are no public water or wastewater services.

A range of solutions are used to achieve the policy objectives, with significant input and responsibilities falling to Uisce Éireann, the local authorities, developers and community entities. The day-to-day administration of the individual projects funded under the programme is carried out by the relevant local authority. The Department retains stewardship and governance of the funds involved and is responsible for determining policy for the rural water sector. There are a number of types of rural wastewater supplies, which primarily consist of domestic wastewater treatment systems or sceptic tanks serving individual households that are not connected to the public sewer; community wastewater connections, which were formerly called public group sewage schemes and developer-provided infrastructure, DPI, which serves more than one house and is not connected to the public sewerage system.

Government funding for capital investment to drive improvements to the wastewater infrastructure in our towns and villages is provided through programmes under the remit of Uisce Éireann and through specific, Department-led programmes. The key programmes are the multiannual rural water programme; the multiannual developer-provided water services infrastructure resolution programme; Uisce Éireann's capital investment plan and Uisce Éireann's small towns and villages growth programme. In addition to these programmes, last year, the Minister announced further funding of €50 million, specifically for the wastewater collection and treatment needs of villages and settlements without access to public wastewater services, as an advance measure under the multiannual rural water programme, from 2022 to 2025.

The measure A8, with regard to wastewater collection and treatment needs for villages and settlements without access to public wastewater services, was launched following significant consultation with stakeholders, including all local authorities, completing detailed surveys of villages and settlements in their respective areas. The scheme will fund projects and areas with identified environmental needs and take a demonstration project model approach. This approach supports taking a longer-term view of the projects involved and will better inform future funding needs in this area.

The multiannual developer-provided water services infrastructure resolution programme, through State funding, progressively facilitates the resolution of issues with developer-provided water services infrastructure in estates that are dependent on this type of service. DPI issues are a small subset of housing estates that are served by standalone water services infrastructure, provided by the developer of the estate. They are all privately-owned facilities and not connected to the public Uisce Éireann water services network. They are made up mostly of wastewater treatment plants, but there are also a small number of drinking water abstraction and treatment plants.

The main Uisce Éireann capital funding plan for water and wastewater is its capital investment plan 2020 to 2024. The focus of the capital investment plan for wastewater is on cities, towns and villages with public wastewater collections networks, with or without treatment plants, that are in need of capital investment. Uisce Éireann is providing water and wastewater growth capacity for smaller settlements, through the small towns and villages growth programme 2020 to 2024. The focus of this programme is to support growth in these smaller towns and villages that would not otherwise be provided for in their capital investment plan. The ongoing work of programmes funded by the Department, combined with the work of Uisce Éireann, are helping to deliver on the Government's objectives of addressing the existing deficits, while ensuring environmental compliance and best practice, with an overriding goal being to help make our towns and villages more attractive locations in which to live. The Department will continue to build progressively on the success of the rural water programme, by developing strategies that are integrated, action-focused and whole-of-society oriented in their input and application.

I thank the committee members for the invitation to meet with them. My colleagues and I are happy to take any questions they may have.