Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, which is obviously of huge concern to those in County Louth, in Carlingford and Dundalk. The additional investment in Irish Water, or Uisce Éireann, is a key priority for the next national development plan for clean water but also for housing supply. We will be ring-fencing quite substantial capital allocations for housing supply but also, as is clearly needed judging by the issues the Deputy has instanced, in wastewater treatment. One of the challenges with wastewater treatment is that there are inevitably a series of objections at all levels, right up to appeals and judicial reviews, which significantly slow down the advancement of wastewater treatment plants, even though these plants substantially enhance the environment and clean the water.

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