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

On the issue the Deputy mentioned in Castlewhite, if there is a connection to a pumping station that is an Irish Water facility, we will look into it with Irish Water. It is important. If the potential is there to resolve the issue, it should be resolved. Perhaps this scheme under our Department might be of assistance. We will look into that.

On bonds and the process of taking in charge, local authorities need to work proactively with Irish Water and any other relevant party on the outstanding wastewater infrastructural issues and the wider issues around the process of taking in charge to try to resolve those for residents and communities. That is critical.

The Department has a programme in place to assist in bringing a resolution to these issues over a number of funding cycles. This applies to all relevant developments, regardless of whether they are in NAMA or not. If the Deputy has any specific additional information in relation to developments, we will ask our officials to examine it.

Given the magnitude of the potential funding liability to sustainably resolve the situation relating to DPI estates, the Department has asked Irish Water to carry out a study to support it in developing optimum solutions for these developments. The study is scheduled to be completed by the summer and will inform future iterations of the funding programme. If there is any additional information the Deputy wants to provide to us, we commit to trying to get a resolution.

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