Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I am very thankful for the opportunity to discuss this matter. I wish to raise on the floor of Dáil Éireann the impending closure of all development work at Mountbellew, County Galway, because of a lousy creaking sewerage system that was installed in the 1950s. As it is my home village, I know what I am talking about. The final blow for this most progressive small town came when a builder had a substantial housing and commercial project stopped dead in its tracks after Galway County Council had granted it planning permission. However, it had an unusual twist. An Bord Pleanála granted planning but inserted a proviso that no work could commence until the upgrade of the sewerage system had been completed. Several other developments and many single houses will be prevented from starting because of An Bord Pleanála's decision.

Mountbellew is the worst polluting village, with a population of between 500 and 1,000 inhabitants, in the proposed so-called group development, a term used by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, where a number of other towns and villages need new schemes.

In a report on water quality by the EPA, which has just come into my possession, Mountbellew frequently surpassed almost all other towns and villages in so far as pollution of the nearby River Shiven, a tributary of the River Suck, is concerned. Many business people in Mountbellew have to put up with a backup of the sewerage system. In fact, the flow of raw sewage is so bad that, on inspection, it was found that the pipe carrying this foul material simply spews human excrement, washing machine detergents and many other pollutants into what was once a fine trout river, which is alas no more. A Niagara Falls-type surge of foul material can be seen at the outflow pipe in the river on rainy days when surface water in the town simply races through the only two tanks available to treat sewage. None of this pollution has anything to do with farmers. As the Minister of State knows, there are almost no farms between Mountbellew Bridge and Canavan's Bridge. This most foul pollution must be ended immediately.

According to the EPA's 2005 report on effluent quality from secondary waste water in the Galway County Council area, Mountbellew was worse than Oughterard, Killimor, Portumna, Headford, Loughrea, Moycullen, Gort, Ballinasloe, Athenry and Tuam. That is from the official record so we can take it that there is a huge pollution problem in Mountbellew.

In reply to a recent parliamentary question in the Dáil, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, informed me that the Mountbellew sewerage scheme is included in the Department's water services investment programme 2007-09 as a scheme due to start construction in 2008. If one did not know enough about the system one would think that was good news but that does not appear to be the case at all. Galway County Council has presented the preliminary detailed file of the scheme to the Department but so far, after several months, there has been no response. Mountbellew cannot wait for another year. The Shiven river cannot and should not be expected to turn into a septic tank. The building projects now lined up for Mountbellew may well be diverted elsewhere. We need infrastructural developments in our town, which has always attracted high ratings in the Tidy Towns competition.

Since budget day, Minister after Minister has said that investment in such infrastructural projects now makes greater sense than ever, given the downturn in the economy. I cannot understand why this action has not been taken. Will the Minister of State tell us that this scheme will be treated with the urgency it deserves? Will he ensure that it will be expedited by the Department as quickly as possible because we are dealing with the most polluted area? The Minister of State knows the area as well as I do so I expect nothing short of a total commitment so that work can begin within the next couple of months. That was promised to people before the last election but they are now looking for an answer. They want the project to get under way immediately.

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