Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. My understanding is that there is now a connection from this treatment plant directly into a pumping station that pumps sewage into a facility for Irish Water, in towards Cork city. That connection is with an Irish Water sewage treatment facility but no one seems to be taking responsibility for the individual treatment facility that is servicing Castlewhite in Whitechurch.

There is the added problem that no local authority will take estates in charge where Irish Water has not taken the sewage treatment facilities in charge. There are cases of developments whose builders have gone into NAMA and there is no management company in place. These are housing estates, not apartment blocks. There is no one responsible for the management of sewage treatment. If there is any other problem in the estate, whether roads, footpaths or any issue, no one is taking it on board. When people purchased these houses, the builder paid money to the local authority in charges. There were also bonds in place and my understanding is many of the bonds in respect of these estates were never drawn down because something was not completed. That is an issue because the banks or people who provided the bonds to the builders are saying they have no legal duty to the local authority and, therefore, will not pay up on them. The receivers are not taking action either.

Those issues are still overhanging from 2008 and we need to bring a resolution in respect of estates which do not have a proper management structure for sewage treatment and there is nothing in the pipeline in relation to their being taken in charge.

See this speech in context