PJ Murphy (Fine Gael)

I thank Mr. Taaffe for his very informative presentation. He mentioned the fact that 28% of the sites identified by local authorities as being suitable for the construction of social and affordable houses had been deemed undevelopable due to the lack of the three key services of water, wastewater and energy. I come from the southern half of County Galway where, of 14 villages and towns, only two are serviced by a wastewater treatment facility. Galway County Council owns land banks in six of the unserviced villages, which are sitting idle and undevelopable due to the lack of wastewater infrastructure. I am anxious to hear the witnesses' opinion on what a short-to-medium-term solution would be. Small rural villages like the ones I mentioned will not get municipal wastewater treatment plants in the short, medium and, possibly, long terms. How do we get around that anomaly? What is a feasible route to involving on-site package plants or an alternative as a way for a local authority to develop these unserviced sites? How would that be workable for private sector developments?