Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is an indictment of this Government and successive Governments that many of our towns and villages do not have waste water treatment services in 2021 and those that do most often need a serious upgrade as they have been operating over their capacity, causing all sorts of issues and disruptions for the community. Recently, I received a response from the relevant Department advising that Irish Water has no waste water infrastructure in towns and villages in Clare such as O'Briensbridge, Broadford, Cooraclare, Spanish Point and Carrigaholt. I know that, for example, Carrigaholt has been campaigning extensively for nearly 50 years for this treatment service. According to Irish Water, it has no remit or responsibility to fund such schemes under Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, funding rules.

The waste water collection and treatment facility in Milltown Malbay, for example, is maintained by Clare County Council on behalf of Irish Water under a service level agreement. Although Irish Water acknowledges that there is a need for an upgrade, it has still not stated when this will be possible. No timeline whatsoever has been provided. This is the same dead end that many treatment plants are at. They are awaiting feasibility studies with no clear answer as to when they will be upgraded. It is quite unbelievable that this was allowed to happen. The Government has clearly left these towns and villages behind, so far removed from the much-needed solution. The Government needs to acknowledge and address this issue immediately.

There cannot be talk of rural investment and regeneration unless there is commitment and action, which speaks much louder than words. The Government also needs to respond to the fact that we know that many families and individuals have had to review their lifestyle choices and have chosen to relocate to these rural communities because of the Covid pandemic in particular. We have seen, experienced and survived the slashing of rural services time and again. Just this year, Bank of Ireland branches and post offices across the county closed, such as the post office in Broadford. Even last week, the restricted route 51 service of Bus Éireann, which is an essential service, was slashed. This needs to stop and these areas and communities need to be prioritised.

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