Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I will pass the Deputy's concerns to the Minister. The note I have makes it clear that additional wastewater facilities are needed for the Dublin area in the medium to long-term. It is also clear that despite the downturn generally, the population of Fingal has shown strong growth and the area will require further additional wastewater facilities in the coming decades to meet demographic and enterprise needs. The strategic environmental assessment process, including public consultation, examined the issue of the number of treatment plants that should be constructed and determined the optimum solution was to provide one plant. I know the Deputy disagrees with that and I will pass his objections to the Minister.

It is worth noting that the project will require planning permission, which will be subject to an environmental impact assessment and may require a foreshore licence. Each of these has a statutory public consultation element to it so it would not be appropriate for the Minister to engage in discussions directly that might prejudice his role in that process. I will highlight to the Minister the strength of the arguments put forward by Deputy Ryan on behalf of his constituents and ask him to revert to the Deputy directly in respect of this matter.

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