Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

I recently visited Dublin City Council's wastewater treatment plant, on which a great deal of money was spent. Does the allocation of €500 million also relate to wastewater treatment? In the context of current capacity to deal with wastewater treatment, how many further plants will it be necessary to construct? When will these plants be delivered?

Section 49 of the Planning and Development Act contains a provision which allows local authorities to require developers to build infrastructure. As far as I am aware, local authorities have used this provision only in respect of transport infrastructure. Has the Minister considered asking them to use it to require those responsible for major developments to either build some of the required infrastructure or to fund its construction? The latter would have to be done specifically and not by means of a general levy.

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