Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

They are promises that Deputy Aird is going to keep and he will work with the Deputy constructively in relation to that as well because we have a lot of work we need to do to deliver for the people of Laois and the midlands. The Deputy makes constructive and fair points. We obviously have to put the infrastructure in place to enable the housing capacity to be delivered. That is a statement of fact.

What the Deputy saw yesterday was another piece of the jigsaw in terms of approval for a sectoral investment plan for transport under the national development plan, NDP. This is a very significant increase with regard to a number of projects. We will be in a position to deliver approximately €9.7 billion in investment in roads, protecting and renewing existing roads, delivering many new national road projects, trying to mitigate seasonal and climate-related impacts, rolling out electric vehicle, EV, charging infrastructure and delivering new strategic regional roads.

The Minister for Transport was at pains to say yesterday and on many other occasions - the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Canney, are here with us also - that this list is not exhaustive. It lists a number of projects that will be delivered. There will also be an annual Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, capital plan and we expect that plan to come early in the new year. There will also be opportunities, specifically in relation to the housing point, to look at how we can work with the likes of the housing activation office. I see this in my constituency where, if key infrastructure is funded through the housing activation office or other structures, it opens up opportunities to develop and deliver further housing supply and crucial infrastructure.

I know that when you publish a list it very quickly becomes about not just what is on the list but what is not on it. That is why I know the Minister for Transport, while welcoming the sectoral investment plan, was clear, as is all of the Government, that this is not exhaustive but it is about moving forward with some degree of clarity. There will be many further opportunities, including in relation to the TII capital plan. We will work very constructively with Laois Deputies in this House and also with the local authority.

Specifically on the issue of water and wastewater, my officials in the Department of Finance met with Uisce Éireann last week, or in the last couple of days anyway. I am certainly very satisfied from my conversations that capital funding is not now the constraint in relation to Uisce Éireann. We have provided Uisce Éireann with billions of euro in additional funding. The capacity constraint here is the planning and regulatory systems and how we can actually get things done more quickly. I will work constructively in relation to the water and wastewater projects that are needed in Laois. I also look forward to next February when the rules change to finally bring a bit of common sense and allow developers on small-scale or relatively small-scale housing developments to put in their own wastewater infrastructure. I believe this will open up huge housing opportunities in many rural towns and villages. I am happy to continue to engage and I will send on the specific projects the Deputy referenced to the relevant Ministers.

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