Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter in the Dáil tonight. I am motivated to do so by the information that has come to my attention that the commitment of providing the necessary funding for a local sewerage scheme in Freshford, County Kilkenny, has been put back from 2008 to 2010 under the water services programme. It is a pity that the people in the area were not made aware of this matter at an event that took place in May 2007, but I suppose that is not unusual in political terms.

Freshford is an area of 1,500 people and, together with the villages of Johnstown and Goresbridge in County Kilkenny, it has been on the waiting list for a considerable period of time to get a contract to proceed under the water services programme. It is well located, being a ten-minute drive from Kilkenny city. It is a very picturesque and beautiful part of County Kilkenny, but it lacks the necessary infrastructure to allow the type of development that has gone on in other villages and towns. Recently it had a setback with the closure of the local meat factory. One of the problems that factory had over the years was difficulty in satisfying the local authority about the licensing arrangements for the disposal of sewage arising from the activity of that plant.

It is an indictment of the local authority and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in particular that the existing sewage treatment plant is no more than a septic tank that allows raw sewage to go into the River Nuenna in the village of Freshford. That has been the case for a considerable time. In the past four or five years, despite the best efforts of Kilkenny County Council, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has been unable to provide the funds to allow this work to be carried out. The time has long passed for political promises from the Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness, who circulated correspondence to everybody before the last general election stating that there would be no difficulty in proceeding with this scheme in 2008. Now we know the truth that there is a problem with the timing of the funding.

Every other town and village in the county has had a fair crack of the whip regarding funding for essential services and water and sewerage, but this village seems to have been left behind. People are having great difficulty getting planning approval for businesses and housing developments in the village. We should be encouraging those developers and promoters of those projects in this day and age in view of the decline in the level of interest in construction activity. We should be glad to have people willing to enter into private public partnerships or inject private investment into a place like Freshford to give it the necessary critical mass for the essential services required across the board, including child care and educational facilities.

I am told the contract price for the bundle of projects is €5.1 million, which is not a lot of money in this day and age. The preliminary report has been sent to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the past week. However, like other experiences I have had as Fine Gael spokesman on the environment, it seems to take four or five years for all the toing and froing between local authority and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government before money can be committed. However, in this case a solemn commitment was given by a Government representative that this project would be delivered in 2008. I am now told that July 2011 is the completion date for this project. The people of Freshford are incensed at the delay in the provision of this essential project. I ask the Minister of State to give us the necessary information that would allow the project to proceed as quickly as possible on behalf of the community of Freshford.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the opportunity to clarify the position on this scheme. I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

Freshford is part of the Freshford, Johnstown and Goresbridge sewerage scheme which is approved to advance through planning under the Water Services Investment Programme 2007-2009. The three locations have been combined under one scheme so that the overall package can be procured under a single contract. This will optimise the cost of building the infrastructure and will speed up the delivery phase since the same contractor will be involved from design through to completion.

The scheme is one of 18 water services projects being progressed in County Kilkenny at present with the support of unprecedented Exchequer funding from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government under the national development plan. The current water services programme, which the Minister published in September 2007, provides for an investment of €127 million in water and sewerage infrastructure in County Kilkenny in the next few years. A copy of the programme is available in the Oireachtas Library. The range of new water and sewerage works planned and in progress is clear evidence of the Government's determination to safeguard the environment, while at the same time making appropriate provision to secure new development areas across the country.

The €7.9 million Freshford - Johnstown - Goresbridge scheme involves the expansion and overhaul of the existing wastewater treatment plants in each location, with major upgrading of the sewage collection networks. The expanded treatment plants will have a combined capacity to cater for a population equivalent of 5,000. Capacity at the Freshford plant is being increased to deal with a population equivalent of 2,000. This will ensure that existing needs are fully met and that there is scope to deal with additional demand for future development.

The preliminary report for the scheme, which sets out the design parameters and objectives, was submitted to the Department by Kilkenny County Council last week. The Deputy will appreciate that multi-million euro projects that are being funded by the taxpayer must go through the proper planning and development processes to ensure that they meet their intended objectives, that they are designed and constructed in an environmentally acceptable and economical manner and that they produce treated wastewater or drinking water, as the case may be, to a standard that meets national and EU requirements.

The Department is examining the preliminary report in this case and will respond to the council as soon as possible. Obviously it is not possible at this early stage to say whether the preliminary report is in order. However, the objective of the response will be to guide the council on how to advance the scheme through the remaining stages with the least possible delay. The Department will continue to work closely with Kilkenny County Council to ensure the scheme is delivered as soon as possible.

Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I am very thankful for the opportunity to discuss this matter. I wish to raise on the floor of Dáil Éireann the impending closure of all development work at Mountbellew, County Galway, because of a lousy creaking sewerage system that was installed in the 1950s. As it is my home village, I know what I am talking about. The final blow for this most progressive small town came when a builder had a substantial housing and commercial project stopped dead in its tracks after Galway County Council had granted it planning permission. However, it had an unusual twist. An Bord Pleanála granted planning but inserted a proviso that no work could commence until the upgrade of the sewerage system had been completed. Several other developments and many single houses will be prevented from starting because of An Bord Pleanála's decision.

Mountbellew is the worst polluting village, with a population of between 500 and 1,000 inhabitants, in the proposed so-called group development, a term used by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, where a number of other towns and villages need new schemes.

In a report on water quality by the EPA, which has just come into my possession, Mountbellew frequently surpassed almost all other towns and villages in so far as pollution of the nearby River Shiven, a tributary of the River Suck, is concerned. Many business people in Mountbellew have to put up with a backup of the sewerage system. In fact, the flow of raw sewage is so bad that, on inspection, it was found that the pipe carrying this foul material simply spews human excrement, washing machine detergents and many other pollutants into what was once a fine trout river, which is alas no more. A Niagara Falls-type surge of foul material can be seen at the outflow pipe in the river on rainy days when surface water in the town simply races through the only two tanks available to treat sewage. None of this pollution has anything to do with farmers. As the Minister of State knows, there are almost no farms between Mountbellew Bridge and Canavan's Bridge. This most foul pollution must be ended immediately.

According to the EPA's 2005 report on effluent quality from secondary waste water in the Galway County Council area, Mountbellew was worse than Oughterard, Killimor, Portumna, Headford, Loughrea, Moycullen, Gort, Ballinasloe, Athenry and Tuam. That is from the official record so we can take it that there is a huge pollution problem in Mountbellew.

In reply to a recent parliamentary question in the Dáil, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, informed me that the Mountbellew sewerage scheme is included in the Department's water services investment programme 2007-09 as a scheme due to start construction in 2008. If one did not know enough about the system one would think that was good news but that does not appear to be the case at all. Galway County Council has presented the preliminary detailed file of the scheme to the Department but so far, after several months, there has been no response. Mountbellew cannot wait for another year. The Shiven river cannot and should not be expected to turn into a septic tank. The building projects now lined up for Mountbellew may well be diverted elsewhere. We need infrastructural developments in our town, which has always attracted high ratings in the Tidy Towns competition.

Since budget day, Minister after Minister has said that investment in such infrastructural projects now makes greater sense than ever, given the downturn in the economy. I cannot understand why this action has not been taken. Will the Minister of State tell us that this scheme will be treated with the urgency it deserves? Will he ensure that it will be expedited by the Department as quickly as possible because we are dealing with the most polluted area? The Minister of State knows the area as well as I do so I expect nothing short of a total commitment so that work can begin within the next couple of months. That was promised to people before the last election but they are now looking for an answer. They want the project to get under way immediately.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I thank Deputy Connaughton for raising this issue.

The Water Services Investment Programme 2007-09, which the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government published in September 2007, includes more than 50 major water and sewerage schemes, with a value of over €464 million, for County Galway. The programme includes a further eight schemes with a value of over €114 million for Galway city.

The Minister is pleased to confirm that the Mountbellew sewerage scheme, at an estimated cost of €5.958 million, is one of the schemes included in the programme. It is being bundled with sewerage schemes for Carna, Eyrecourt and Kilkieran for procurement purposes and is scheduled for a 2008 start in the investment programme. Funding has been allocated for the combined package and it will be able to go to construction once the planning and procurement processes have been completed.

The present position is that Galway County Council's preliminary report — which sets out details of the scope and likely cost of the scheme, and of the council's proposals for advancing it — is under examination in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The Department's examination is close to being completed and the Minister is confident that a response will issue to Galway County Council within the next few weeks.

Approval of the preliminary report will allow the council to draw up the contract documents, which will be used to invite tenders for the scheme. This will be a major step forward towards the construction phase. The scheme is an important one for the local community, as the Deputy and I well know. It will ensure that the town has a sewerage scheme capable of meeting current demands, that there will be capacity to service new development and that environmental standards, including water quality in local rivers, will be preserved and improved for the benefit of the town and its residents.

The Minister is conscious of the fact that this scheme is urgently needed to service new development. He has already indicated that Galway County Council can expect an early response to its preliminary report and he will ensure that there is no avoidable delay by the Department in this regard.