Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach and I acknowledge that Clarinbridge and Craughwell have been given an allocation to put in wastewater treatment plants and not before time. The reality is there is a list of 30 more similar centres in Galway. When the Minister, Deputy O'Brien first announced the funding call it was three years ago. It was only in December that an announcement was made as to where the money would go. This type of long drawn-out process has to stop. We need to take it seriously in the sense that if we are to provide affordable houses we need to provide the infrastructure required. At the same time we cannot leave people living in houses which they bought in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 with the responsibility to maintain the private wastewater treatment plants there. At the same time they are paying their mortgages, local property tax and everything else. They seem to be left in limbo with the developers having washed their hands, Irish Water having washed its hands and the local authorities having washed their hands of all of this problem. The Government needs to have a look at this. It is particularly prevalent in the west of Ireland, and Galway in particular, where private wastewater treatment plants are not being taken into charge by anybody.

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