Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We support this motion. It is an important issue for most of us who live in rural Ireland and we understand the importance of having infrastructure in place. The particular change happened when Irish Water came onto the scene. Towns and small villages that had group water schemes in place for many years suddenly found there was a change in policy and attitude towards what was being done. That is something that rings out clearly throughout the whole country. We need to see the investment go in and we need to see co-operation between the local authorities, communities on the ground and Irish Water to ensure that investment is put in place straight away.

The example that comes to my mind is that in Carrick-on-Shannon in County Leitrim there is an area known as Hartley. A lot of houses in that area have their own septic tank systems, some of which work well and some of which do not. They are upstream of the River Shannon from where the water goes in for the treatment plant which provides drinking water for most of the county. The idea was that a scheme would be put in place so that they would get a group sewerage scheme which would pump into the scheme that is there in the town. However, after the local community coming together and working hard for a couple of years, even going around and collecting the money from the people in the area, the next thing was that when they had all that done Irish Water turned its back on it and stated that it would not go ahead with it. That is the type of situation we see all over the country. We need to have a change in policy and attitude from Irish Water to understand that small communities up and down the country need to have the infrastructure in place as a priority.

The other issue which comes straight to mind is that of one-off rural housing and the big problems that are there. That is something I have spoken to the Minister about as well. We have a serious issue in many areas where people who want to build a one-off rural house are being refused the right to do so, which means they cannot sustain their local communities. We are told it is about the septic tanks and the sewerage situation. The reality is that technology has long overcome that problem. The single house sewerage treatment systems that are available treat the sewage to up to two or three times a better standard than the town sewerage systems. It is not an argument any longer. That argument needs to be put to bed and we need to get back to being able to develop houses and giving people a place to live in their local areas where they can send their children to the school they went to themselves.

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