Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending. I trust that he will pass on the comments I will make on Dunmanway. The situation with the wastewater treatment in the town is nothing short of a scandal. Dunmanway is one the biggest towns in my constituency of Cork South-West. Within the past ten years, a brand-new wastewater treatment plant has been built there. The plant was built with capacity for 3,500 people, but the population of Dunmanway is 2,200. The Minister of State will, therefore, ask: what is the issue? He will say that there is loads of capacity and he will tell us to drive on.

The issue is that Cork County Council is refusing to grant planning permission to one more single unit in Dunmanway and, therefore, no houses can be built. No estates can be built, and we are in the middle of a housing crisis. No industry or commerce can develop because the council will not grant planning permission. The issue is with the outflow pipe from this brand-new wastewater treatment plant, which goes into the River Bandon's special area of conservation, SAC, and does not comply with the conditions the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, has set out. We are therefore in a situation where this town, like other towns throughout Ireland, is looking to expand, grow and drive commerce and industry but it is being hampered by this.

My ask is very simple on behalf of the people of the Dunmanway and the surrounding area, as well as the businesses in Dunmanway. We need to get the wastewater treatment plant in the town upgraded straightaway. There have been talks about different solutions, such as moving the outflow pipe to a different area. None of that would suffice in this instance. It is my understanding that an upgrade could happen but it would cost hundreds of thousands of euro. There is a cost involved but it is imperative that this happens. This is one of the most important towns in west Cork. It is one of the most important regions. It is right at the heart of west Cork. The town cannot grow because of this craziness.

Uisce Éireann needs to put this in this year's capital plan. I do not care about where it gets the money from or where it finds the funding. I do not care about where the Minister will get the funding from, but it needs to happen, and it needs to happen straightaway.

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