Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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The Fethard and Burncourt water schemes have been on the political agenda since 1979. In the case of Burncourt, substantial funding was approved in 1988 and funding has also been approved for the Fethard scheme. I represent the people of south Tipperary, who are sick, sore and tired of promises from me and other politicians that these schemes are at an advanced stage. Some years ago, the Department, in its wisdom and with the agreement of South Tipperary County Council, decided to bundle both schemes together. They are not big enough at €9 million apiece so they were made into a €18 million scheme. Since then, I have been frustrated, as are most of my fellow politicians in south Tipperary, with the disastrously slow pace of progress on these schemes. Every issue has been thrown at us, including announcements of approvals.

While I do not blame the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, or any Minister, I blame the system. The people are tired of this. There were huge problems with water in my own area of Burncourt and Sceichin A Rince throughout the summer and there was e-coli in the water during the winter which required a "boil water" notice. In the Fethard area, there have been outages, breakages and a lack of service, mainly at weekends. It is beyond a joke at this stage. I cannot understand why the system is so bureaucratic. I have the height of respect for the officials I deal with in South Tipperary County Council and the officials I have dealt with in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. However, consultants reports go to the Department and the council and then, six months later, there is another report or an independent appraisal - it is all about pushing paper and keeping people in jobs and positions. To be fair, those officials do their job but, nonetheless, local people are sick and tired of this.

There are two sources of very good water which have supplied the area since the 1880s but we now have these grandiose schemes which have been designed and redesigned. I am told by an official of South Tipperary County Council, Mr. Aidan Finn, that the schemes will hopefully go to tender in the second quarter or perhaps the end of the first quarter of 2011. Frankly, to be fair to Mr. Finn, I do not believe this because some other consultant will decide another report is needed regarding extraction orders of the lack of them, or how much water will be taken.

It is the people's water. The water comes from underground springs and rainfall and it belongs to the people - it is from God, if one likes. I want to know why we need extraction orders when we never had them in the past. The laws are antiquated where they are in place at all. They are being put in place to circumvent progress. We must have progress because I cannot have credibility in going back to the doors of local people, nor can my colleagues, while we wait for this work to start, never mind be completed.

There are charges for business people on the basis of "water in, water out" and charges are now being suggested for private domestic use. I believe we cannot have treated water without there being some charge as it costs a lot of money. However, we should cut out the red tape, cut out the bunkum, cut to the chase and get these schemes designed. Consultants have been recruited and appointed and they have published reports but nothing has yet been approved. It is beyond a joke. The Fethard and Burncourt schemes serve huge areas - at least a third, if not more, of south Tipperary. The public deserves a decent service and deserves treated water on tap. If we have to consider payment for it, that is fine, and I accept there will have to be a charge. Nonetheless, we cannot ask people to pay any charge towards water that is literally putrid.

I compliment the maintenance staff, supervisors and caretakers, who do a good job with the system they have, but that system is antiquated and outdated. Given it is 2011, it is time, from the point of view of staff, officials and the public, that we have a proper, decent water supply. I do not want any more reports stating that the schemes have gone to tender but that the tender is too expensive and must be reconsidered, with all kinds of conditionalities imposed by officials. New terminology is used every day, which is not acceptable. We need to cut to the chase and get the works under way.

We will get good value at this time. Contractors are available and the work can be done for at least one third less than it would have cost two or three years ago. There are many competent contractors and their workers who could submit a final design and carry out the building work. Public private partnerships could be operated in respect of some of the new schemes. Contractors are ready and willing to do the work. Without disrespect to any particular official, we must take this out of the hands of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government because it has frustrated and delayed these projects.

We are beyond the point of no return. The work must be done now. Water is a natural resource at both locations, abstraction order or not. We must get on with building the treatment plants and installing decent water mains that will hold the water without any leakages. That can be done while ensuring value for money for taxpayers.

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy McGrath for the opportunity to clarify the position in regard to the Burncourt and Fethard regional water supply scheme water treatment plants. The contract for the scheme is included in my Department's Water Services Investment Programme 2010-2012 as a contract to commence during the period of the programme. Further network elements of the scheme are also included to advance through planning in the lifetime of the programme. The proposed Burncourt and Fethard scheme is intended to boost the water supply in the south east and west of the county and resolve the water quality issues with the present supply.

My Department approved South Tipperary County Council's design proposals for the scheme in December 2008 and the council is proceeding with the detailed planning of the scheme. As part of this process the council required a new abstraction order which has now been obtained. I understand the site investigation process is ongoing and that the council proposes to commence the tender process for the contract for the water treatment plants in mid-2011. It is expected that this contract could be completed in early 2013, subject to obtaining the necessary departmental approvals as the process advances.

At a national level the continued high levels of funding in recent years for the water services investment programme and rural water programme demonstrate the Government's ongoing commitment to the sector. Investment in the period 2000-09 has seen an increase in water treatment capacity equivalent to the needs of a population of 1.1 million and an increase in storage capacity equivalent to 1.6 million.

My Department's Water Services Investment Programme 2010-2012, a copy of which is available in the Oireachtas Library, sets out the plans for investment in major water supply projects. In the case of water supply infrastructure the programme includes provision for increased treatment and storage capacity, where appropriate, in order to meet key environmental and economic objectives over that period. Including water conservation works, the programme's water supply component comprises more than 180 contracts to be progressed to construction over the period 2010-12, with a value of over €800 million, and some 100 schemes on which planning work will continue.

A comprehensive range of new water services infrastructure has been approved for South Tipperary County Council - the total value of contracts under way and those proposed for commencement in south Tipperary during the period of the programme is just over €41 million. It is desirable that the Burncourt and Fethard scheme should commence construction and be completed as quickly as possible. My Department is doing everything it can to ensure this happens.