Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist seo. I will outline the response from the Department, but I say at the outset that the conditions the Deputy describes are unacceptable. I have seen other parts of the country where this has been the case. It is a practice which should not have taken place but did. Such cases need to be resolved as a matter of urgency.

The position on resolving wastewater treatment facilities built by developers to service housing estates and estates that have not been taken in charge by the local authority is as follows. Residential estates normally receive their water services – that is disposal of wastewater and supply of drinking water – from the Irish Water network. These estates are subsequently taken in charge in the normal way by the planning authority, and Irish Water takes responsibility for the water services in these estates. A small subset of estates are not taken in charge and do not have their water services networks connected to the Irish Water network and instead rely on water services infrastructure provided by the developer. This infrastructure provided by the developer of the estate is also called stand-alone developer-provided infrastructure, DPI. They are privately owned facilities. Much of this developer-provided infrastructure, consisting of small stand-alone wastewater treatment plants which were put in place in the 1990s and early 2000s, is now at the end of or past its useful working life.

In 2019, my Department introduced the multi-annual developer-provided water services infrastructure resolution programme to provide funding for the progressive resolution of housing estates with legacy DPI issues. All DPI estates, regardless of their origins, including those in NAMA, were eligible for consideration. The focus of this first programme is on estates in towns and villages where the resolution is to connect their water services to the Irish Water network. This will enable Irish Water to take responsibility for the ongoing operation and management of the water service in the estate, once the estate is taken in charge by the planning authority.

On 21 September 2020, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, announced allocations of just over €3.36 million for 26 estates across ten counties with almost 950 households to benefit under the new programme, to enable the taking in charge of these estates. This announcement was the first tranche of funding in projects for investment under the new programme. Further investment will follow over a number of funding cycles to fully resolve DPI estates. The programme will also support a number of pilot projects where connection to the Irish Water network is not feasible in the immediate future. These pilot projects, together with a major study being undertaken by Irish Water that is due for completion in quarter 2 of 2022, will inform future policy considerations on resolving substandard developer-provided infrastructure with sustainable solutions.

Under the approvals announced by the Minister in September 2020, local authorities were asked to consider further estates requiring funding for resolution within their functional area. Arising from this process, valid bids for estates were received from a number of local authorities. My Department is awaiting a report from the expert panel tasked with evaluating the bids. The Minister expects a report from the panel in the coming weeks and a decision on funding will quickly follow.

I acknowledge the issues highlighted by the Deputy. They are unsafe for communities and need to be resolved as a matter of urgency.

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