David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. There does seem to be an issue in that many people feel that Irish Water has a shortage of money. All the questions before now have been about housing, and I am sure the Minister of State realises that in many parts of the country housing development is frozen in many towns. In Mitchelstown in my own constituency, and in Midleton and Castlemartyr, no new houses can be built now because Irish Water does not have the infrastructure, and maybe does not have the funding either. Has an analysis been undertaken across the country to find out what towns cannot actually build houses because of waste water infrastructure deficits? If the Minister of State does not have that information, he might give it to me at some stage. What is the timetable for rectifying these? As I said, there is a sense that Irish Water does not have the funding. There are some very good people in there. In my own area of Youghal, Cobh, Cork Harbour and Carrigtwohill, there is amazing work being done with new waste water treatment plants but we need now to unlock the land. Local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, funding has been made available in some areas, to allow housing to continue.

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