Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State may be aware that Irish Water and the Government is proposing to locate a regional sewage plant on a 40 acre site at Clonshaugh in north County Dublin. The planned development will cost €1 billion. It is four times the size of Croke Park and has an outflow pipe which is located off Portmarnock through a special area of conservation at the Baldoyle-Portmarnock estuary. According to the plans that have been submitted and which are now with An Bord Pleanála, sewage will only be treated to the minimum secondary level. At the very least, my colleague, Deputy Haughey, and I, along with Councillor Eoghan O'Brien and the 14,000 residents of the area, insist that the highest levels of modern treatment are applied. I note that the size of the plant has been reduced from around 800,000 or 900,000 personal equivalent, PE, to 500,000 PE. This is due to the fact that there have been over 14,000 observations through the public consultation process, which has actually been useful.

I held a meeting with Irish Water last June in which I was informed that its priority is the continuing upgrade of the Ringsend facility, bringing new technologies to that plant and increasing capacity there. Does the Minister of State have an update on that? I, along with many residents, are particularly opposed to this type of development and believe that a series of localised plants is the way forward. There are already 15 plants in Fingal which process the waste where it is actually generated. We do not want to go down the road of a €1 billion to €1.4 billion project, with an orbital sewer with a massive regional wastewater treatment plant. Our main objections are on the grounds of environmental damage and potential damage, damage to the quality of life for residents in Clonshaugh, Portmarnock and the surrounding areas and damage to the fishing and horticultural sector in the area. The cost to the taxpayer is also fundamental. I have repeatedly asked for a cost-benefit analysis on this project. Well before Deputy English became the Minister of State I asked Deputy Howlin, who was Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, to carry out a cost-benefit analysis on this plant. He promised that would be done. My understanding is that has not been done. I know that the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, is not here today, but I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy English, is here as a representative of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Can he inform the House how much has been spent on this project to date? It is important that we keep an eye on large capital projects. The Government will understand how important that is when we take into account the debacle of the national children's hospital. We want to ensure that, whatever happens with the development of additional wastewater treatment plant facilities in the area, be it the large regional plants we do not support or the smaller, localised ones that would serve 80,000 or 90,000 PE, we have a handle on the costs.

I would be greatly obliged if the Minister of State could advise what has been spent to date and what the Government's plans are for the Irish Water strategic funding plan 2019 to 2024. Has the Government allocated further funding in order to bring this plant to the construction phase, bearing in mind that An Bord Pleanála has granted residents, myself, Deputy Haughey and Councillors Eoghan O'Brien and Seán Paul Mahon an oral hearing on 20 March? I would like to know what the expenditure has been so far, what capital funding allocation has been made for this year and if there are figures available for next year.

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