Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

“Housing and Critical Infrastructure” is a very appropriate heading for the motion as we cannot have housing without critical infrastructure. In my own county of Kerry, we are in the Dark Ages when it comes to critical infrastructure. The majority of villages in County Kerry do not have any wastewater treatment facilities. In the first week of December 2023, €6 million was announced by the Department for the Beaufort village sewerage scheme but it has not progressed since. I was recently informed that it will take another seven years before Beaufort has a sewerage scheme.

There are a total of 32 villages in Kerry without a wastewater treatment scheme. In a report to members of Kerry County Council back in 2019, we were informed that immediate priorities included Beaufort, Scartaglin, Caherdaniel and Currow. Not one of them has progressed other than the announcement for Beaufort. The cost of the Scartaglin scheme in 2019 was €3.5 million. Major investment is also urgently required from Uisce Éireann at 17 small plants in Kerry that effectively require total replacement to meet minimum regulatory standards. These plants have been completely inadequate, overloaded, outdated and beyond upgrade for far too long.

Uisce Éireann needs to pull up its socks. The time for action is now. We have a national housing crisis and this also applies to my county. The villages I refer to also include Gneevgullia, Reask, Ballydavid and Ballyferriter in the west Kerry Gaeltacht, and my own village of Glenbeigh has been at capacity for well over 20 years. The south Kerry greenway is coming onstream, with a section due to open later this year. It is anticipated that it will surpass the numbers that were attracted in the first 12 months to both the Waterford and Mayo greenways, which had 250,000 visitors each. I have received a number of preplanning inquiries with regard to hotels and so on but they are at a standstill, for obvious reasons. We urgently require accommodation. Everything is completely stalled by the inaction of Uisce Éireann, which is preventing the people I represent in County Kerry from building a family home or developing a business. The treatment plant at Portmagee, where the boats leave for Sceilg Mhichíl, is also at capacity.

The population of many of the villages I mentioned rockets during the summer season. Other villages I must mention are Cromane, Boolteens and Castlemaine. They have been campaigning for sewerage schemes for quite a number of years. Every kind of a lame duck excuse has been given over the years by Irish Water and Uisce Éireann. There are solutions. I raised with the Taoiseach a couple of months ago the matter of constructed wetlands. It is a faster and much cheaper form of treatment. Put the skids under Uisce Éireann. The time for talking is over. Provide the badly needed affordable and social housing our people crave. I also ask the Minister to provide a low-cost sites scheme. There should be a low-cost sites scheme in every town and village in County Kerry and throughout the country. Without the infrastructure we cannot have them.

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