Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I highlight the lack of vital infrastructure projects in County Kerry. We have been waiting for many years for these projects, despite promises year after year. The village of Kilcummin has been waiting at least 15 years. A project was promised several times but the road to the village has been delayed for at least ten years because we have been told repeatedly that the sewerage scheme will be constructed the following year. Scartaglen was third in line for a project back in 2008. The village does not have a sewerage treatment plant and nor does Currow. The county council is drawing sewage in Currow into an old tank and bringing it to the treatment plant in Killarney. Castlecove, beside the sea, has no treatment plant either and nor do the towns and villages of Caherdaniel, Kilmoyley, Knockanure, Cromane, Beaufort and Currans.

We are also waiting for sewerage plants to be upgraded, including the one in Kenmare. It is possible to get planning permission to build a house in the town, but then it is stated that commencement of the building work will have to wait until the sewerage treatment plant has been upgraded. Similar treatment plants in Glenbeigh, Abbeydorney, which is in a shocking state, Kilflynn and Rossbeigh also need to be upgraded. Castleisland, meanwhile, has been waiting for an extension to the sewer for 33 years. One third of the town is not connected to the sewer. That is the honest truth. In the kind of weather we are experiencing now, people with septic tanks have to empty them once a month.

The rural water programme was to be put in place to bring us from 2019 to 2022. We are still waiting for that to happen and this year is nearly gone. A contractor is in place in Glenflesk, finally, but we are waiting for approval from the Minister's Department to sanction the €1.3 million needed for the project to progress. When we put all of those projects on a list, it is shocking to see the way that Kerry has been let down over the years. This involves the Government and Irish Water, but the commitment needs to come from the Government. There is a Minister with responsibility for the environment and we are talking about the environment and protecting it every day. Kerry has been let down in this regard. Many of the villages I named are falling down because they cannot expand. It is not possible to get planning permission. Scartaglen, a grand village in the middle of everywhere, is zoned but people cannot get planning permission for a development there because there is no public sewerage system. I ask the Tánaiste to do something about this situation.

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