James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

Regarding developer-led infrastructure around water and wastewater, we are having a lot of engagement with Uisce Éireann and the EPA. There are complications with it. Any proposals would need to be of a high standard because ultimately they would have to be taken over by Uisce Éireann, so they would have to meet its standards. We want to make sure those standards are clear for developers, so they know what they have to do. We are trying to get to a point of having rules or regulations of general application, so that you do not have to go through individual approvals for each project. There is also complication around discharge licences and the EPA and how we manage all of that. It is proving to be quite complicated, especially the environmental side of it, to ensure that anything delivered by the developer is actually fit for purpose and meets requirement, but that it is not so convoluted and complicated that it effectively makes it impossible for them to do it. We have been working quite hard on this and we will get there. We need to ensure that the environment is protected while also providing a mechanism for developers to be able to work. That is the challenge with the vacant properties.