Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I should have acknowledged initially that there was a great investment in water infrastructure right across the country as part of the last budget. However, the Minister of State said Cork County Council and Irish Water have not prioritised the matter. I have seen the council's wastewater treatment plant priority list. Carrignavar comes somewhere in the middle. Ultimately, however, it is the call of Irish Water, which said there is no funding for the project. This is unfortunate. The Minister of State is saying a strategic, nationwide approach is taken to these matters but the problem in Carrignavar is symptomatic of a wider problem. It is one village but we could name 20 or 30 across Cork county. There are probably hundreds of villages across the country whose development is on permanent pause. It is unfair on people in Carrignavar, the school-going community and the principal, who will try to get more staff and attract more pupils to the benefit of his school. I hope that on foot of this morning's question, Irish Water will revisit the issue and carry out whatever assessment is appropriate to improve the chances of Carrignavar getting what it needs. As Deputy Burke and I both said, to restrict a village ten minutes from the city centre to ten units over the next six years is somewhat incredible.

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