Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important issue for Kildare on the Adjournment of the House and I thank the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, for being here at this late hour to address the issue.

Kildare town, with a population of approximately 9,000 people, is serviced by an antiquated waste water treatment plant which discharges into the Tully River. The treatment plant is overloaded, with just about 9,000 person equivalents and, in any event, the Tully River is incapable of absorbing any further discharge.

The need for a new sewage treatment works was highlighted in the mid-1990s and the objective was firmly written into the 2002-08 development plan for Kildare town. Despite this, it was not until late 2005 that Kildare County Council completed its environmental impact statement on the waste water treatment plant. This was duly approved by An Bord Pleanála on 10 March 2006. Considerable documentation and correspondence passed back and forth between the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Kildare County Council between May and November 2006, when the Department rejected the council's procurement strategy for the waste water treatment plant.

I understand that following discussions between the council and Department officials, Kildare County Council will now consider delivering the treatment plant by way of a public private partnership arrangement or the design, build and operate option which it had previously ignored.

The protracted delay which has surrounded the delivery of this vital infrastructure for Kildare town has had serious consequences for the local community and the local economy. All construction work, other than that being undertaken by the local authority itself, is at a standstill and businesses have already moved out of the area as the council has operated a policy of refusing practically all planning applications until recently, when development proposals were permitted with the proviso that no construction take place until contract documents are signed for the new treatment works.

Kildare town was long regarded as one of the worst bottlenecks on the N7, until its bypass was completed at the end of 2003. It was generally expected that in returning the town to its people, a new development dynamic would be released which would see the town grow and prosper. This has been the experience in many other towns throughout the country, but has not yet come to pass in Kildare, because of the sewage treatment plant logjam.

I am extremely disappointed with the lack of priority which the council has given to this vital project over the past five years and with the lack of progress on a number of other important waste water projects in County Kildare. It has recently emerged that the major mid-Kildare waste water facility at Osberstown is near capacity and that it may be 2008 before a contract is in place for its extension. This situation is already beginning to impact negatively on developments in Naas and Newbridge.

When one looks at the lack of progress by the council on a variety of such projects across the county, one wonders whether the council, contrary to the provisions of its development plans, seeks to suppress the growth in the county's population by allowing these infrastructure deficits to prevail.

In terms of the current proposal for Kildare town, what is envisaged by Kildare County Council is a modular plant discharging via a lengthy pipeline to the River Barrow. The initial package would have a capacity for 14,000 person equivalents, which I suggest is wholly inadequate. As the lack of sewerage capacity has rendered the 2002 area plan for Kildare town totally redundant, we can expect an explosion of development on long-zoned lands as soon as treatment facilities are in place. It would be completely irresponsible to disregard this fact.

I urge the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to issue the speediest possible approval for the Kildare waste water treatment facility, which should have a minimum capacity for 25,000 person equivalents. I further request the Minister to review the delivery by Kildare County Council of water and sewerage schemes in the county.

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to clarify the position on this important issue. I admire the forthright and candid submission he has made to the House.

I appreciate fully the Deputy's concerns about the negative impact on Kildare town of the lethargic approach adopted on this matter to date. The Kildare town sewerage scheme is one of a total of 19 water services projects being progressed in County Kildare at present, with the support of unprecedented Exchequer funding from my Department under the national development plan. The investment in new water services infrastructure all around the country has made a key contribution to economic growth that has benefited every part of Ireland. I am therefore as impatient as Deputy Ó Fearghaíl with any unnecessary bureaucracy, red tape or delay in introducing proposals of local environmental importance.

The range of new water and sewerage schemes planned or in progress in Kildare provides strong evidence of the Government's determination to safeguard the environment while making provision for new housing and jobs, and all the other requirements of a successful and growing economy. The Department's current water services investment programme covering 2005 to 2007 commits over €220 million to water and sewerage schemes in County Kildare. All those should be in place as soon as possible. Many towns and villages around the county can look forward to a new or upgraded water supply and sewerage facilities. Those projects should be approached with ambition locally.

The €20 million Kildare scheme involves a major expansion and overhaul of the waste water treatment plant, with capacity almost to treble from the current population equivalent of 9,700 to above 28,000. The scheme also provides for the rehabilitation of the existing collection system and the construction of new sewers to the west and south west of the town. It is, therefore, very important to the residential, commercial and industrial life of Kildare and its growth and development. The new infrastructure will also, of course, improve water quality in the Tully stream, the Finnery river and, in turn, the River Barrow.

All the multi-million euro projects being funded by the taxpayer must undergo detailed planning and assessment to ensure that they meet their objectives and are designed and constructed in as economical a manner as possible. However, I am glad to report that the Department's examination of Kildare County Council's preliminary report on the Kildare scheme is now very close to being finalised. I once again accept the Deputy's points regarding issues that have delayed the scheme; he is quite right in his analysis.

I also fully agree that this project is vitally important to the development of Kildare town as a whole. In particular, I am anxious to ensure that it be advanced as expeditiously as possible to facilitate redevelopment of the former Magee barracks under the affordable housing initiative. The Magee project offers an exciting opportunity, not just to deliver affordable housing but to secure a major regeneration covering a large area close to the heart of the town. The Department will work closely with the council towards that end.

The Department is fully committed to starting the scheme as quickly as possible. I expect and will accept nothing less in terms of local ambition. I assure Deputy Ó Fearghaíl that we will complete the assessment of Kildare County Council's report very shortly, with a view to putting the scheme out to tender as soon as possible. I have taken very careful note of the Deputy's points and will bring them to the attention of the relevant departmental personnel. I will request that the various serious observations made be fully examined. I reiterate the extraordinary work he has put into achieving this scheme and the contacts he has made with me and locally to see that it is delivered for the people of Kildare town as expeditiously as possible. I assure him that no effort will be spared on my part or that of the Department to get the scheme up and running as early as possible.