Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

I will stay with the theme of housing and, in particular, the emergency task force that was set up in Galway in 2019. At the end of last year, during the last meeting for which I have minutes, the new chair said the delivery to date is "not a happy picture". This was referring to the failure to deliver housing in Galway city and county.

Lots of issues and obstacles were raised. One is the lack of wastewater infrastructure in the county and on the east side of the city. I have used every opportunity to raise this issue on the floor of the Dáil. Five years after the task force was set up, it has told us that housing delivery is going the wrong way, and it is finally beginning to look at the obstacles. One is the failure to resource Irish Water and to ensure Galway is top of its list of targets as a city that has been picked as one of the five destined to grow. No housing development can take place in the Gaeltacht or in east Galway because there is no wastewater treatment.

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