Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Go raibh maith agat, a Chinn Comhairle. Tá mé buíoch duit as ucht an deis seo an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo a ardú. I am very glad for a further opportunity to raise this issue. The population of Ratoath, including the wider area which is quite large as compared with 20 years ago when it was a small village, is approximately 12,500 and the issues I am raising also apply to Ashbourne, which is served by the same water supply. Ratoath suffers from regular water outages, with dozens in the past number of years. People do not know when they can expect water. There are local issues and issues with some housing estates and there is pressure within the village. The key issue is supply to the village from the Staleen water treatment plant.

There was a public meeting some months ago where a number of measures were announced to have been agreed. One had already been agreed, which was to replace 1.4 km of pipework within the village, which is starting next week. The experts and engineers tell us that this will provide some relief to the area and more pressure into Ratoath. However, another thing was promised at the meeting by the Government, which was that the long pipe from Staleen to Ratoath would be replaced over the next two years. If this was completed it would also have huge benefit for Ashbourne, which is also suffering from water outages due to the distance between the towns and the water treatment plant, as well as the state of the pipe. I accept that the internal works in Ratoath will start next week and I welcome the engagement between business and Irish Water, which I hope will continue. I also hope Irish Water will take into account what business and residents are saying.

Where stand the promises made at the meeting with residents in March to the effect that the Staleen water pipe would be upgraded over the next couple of years? What about the promise that investigations would take place into the bore hole and well at the military housing estate? I am aware that some work has been done on that and I am wondering what is its status. Are Irish Water and the Government saying that this will not be done to give relief to people in certain housing estates?

We just want clarity and we want the Minister to know the difficulties my constituents are facing. This is a young town with lots of young children who depend on the water supply, and there are some cases of people with disabilities who depend on a stable water supply. There are a lot of small businesses in this village but we do not have many franchise stores. Instead, we have individual business owners who depend on a stable water supply on a day-to-day basis for their customers. They pay their water charges and standing charges to Irish Water, rates to Meath County Council and taxes to the general taxation fund of the Government and they are entitled to be able to rely on a water service, as are all the residents.

I hope the Minister can give some clarity on the promises that have been made on the Ratoath water supply. I hope he takes on board the genuine concerns residents have raised about which Irish Water, the Government and Meath County Council know and I hope he tells us what action the Government is planning.

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this issue on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to provide an update on improvements by Irish Water to the water supply in Ratoath, County Meath.

Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has had statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. Irish Water, as a single national utility, is taking a strategic, nationwide approach to asset planning and investment and meeting customer requirements. Irish Water’s water services strategic plan, WSSP, sets out the strategic objectives for its delivery of water services over 25 years up to 2040 in order to ensure the provision of clean safe drinking water, effective management of wastewater, environmental protection and support for social and economic development. It takes a long-term view of water services investment at a national level, to ensure that investment is strategically targeted towards priority needs and to put in place an asset management approach towards investment in water services that gives the optimum balance between capital and operational spend to ensure the required service delivery to the people of Ireland over time, and at least cost.

The Irish Water business plan, Transforming Water Services in Ireland to 2021, also published in 2015 by Irish Water, sets out its short- to medium-term planning for implementing the first phase of the water services strategic plan. While the Irish Water business plan sets out the planned level of operational and capital expenditure over this period, the actual allowed operational expenditure and capital investment is decided on by the economic regulator, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. To this end, Irish Water submits to the CRU a water charges plan for specific regulatory periods, based on the WSSP and its business plan. Irish Water has also developed an investment plan based on a five-year investment planning horizon, 2017 to 2021, which aligns to the WSSP and the seven-year business plan. In that context, Irish Water must optimise investment decisions to ensure that it utilises scarce capital by making investments that deliver the best possible service improvements while maximising value-for-money.

A substantial proportion of investment by the State through Irish Water over the next ten years will be focused on programmes to improve compliance with relevant public health and environmental standards. This will include implementation of the measures contained within the river basin management plan for Ireland 2018-21 and the achievement of the outcomes identified. A priority objective is to bring public water and wastewater services to acceptable international benchmarks, verified by independent monitoring and reporting.

A vital measure for improving water quality is increased wastewater treatment, where the focus will be on ensuring full compliance with the urban wastewater directive and wastewater licensing requirements.

Irish Water acknowledges the ongoing issues with water supply experienced by the communities in Ratoath and the inconvenience this has caused. It is actively pursuing an action plan to address these issues. This plan involves a series of works being carried out to the network in phases, some of which Deputy Byrne referred to in his opening comments, along with an upgrade to the Staleen water treatment plant, which is the water supply for Ratoath and a large part of east county Meath.

The completion of these upgrade works will deliver environmental benefits to the River Boyne and surrounding areas and will also deliver an improvement of the energy efficiency of the plant. Most importantly, it will eradicate the underlying weaknesses of the plant and thereby remove the scheme from the EPA's remedial action list and ensure a safe supply of drinking water to the people of Ratoath.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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My constituents will be absolutely delighted with the environmental benefits to the River Boyne, as will I. I will be delighted with the improvement to the energy efficiency of the plans at Staleen in Donore, County Meath. Of course, we will be absolutely delighted to have the Staleen water treatment plant removed from the EPA's remedial action list and have a safe supply of drinking water ensured for the people. However, fundamentally what my constituents want is a supply of water that is reliable, clean and safe and on which they can depend.

I want the Minister of State to set out on the floor of the Dáil, or if he cannot do so to come back to me as soon as possible in writing, the exact nature of the action plan that Irish Water is pursuing, the actions in that action plan and the timescale the action plan involves. We have been told this will all be sorted in a couple of years. I want to know whether this is the case. I want the Minister of State to know the urgency of this and to pursue it and not let it drop because it is very important. All these points on the water treatment plant at Staleen will also benefit constituents in the rural area who are on the main supply and those in the very important town of Ashbourne. There are industries and jobs there that depend on a reliable water supply. There is no recompense whatsoever for businesses that have been discommoded by Irish Water if the supply is not there. If a business, such as a dry-cleaners, a cafe, a supermarket that sells coffee or a range of other businesses that depend on water, loses out, Irish Water does not give compensation. I want to mention this because by and large these are tax compliant small businesses and they deserve better treatment than what they are getting. At the very least, they deserve to know what is happening and have it set out in a very clear way.

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I do not have the full details on what is happening with the Staleen plant but I will endeavour to get the information for the Deputy from Irish Water. It is not unrealistic that an approximate timescale would be provided.

I want to outline to the House that neither myself nor the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has a role in the selection and progress of individual water service projects, including those relating to water supply in Ratoath. The Deputy is aware that Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives on specific issues relating to water services. This team is available to the Deputy and all other Members through a dedicated email address and phone number, as a direct avenue of communication on individual projects and issues. However, I will endeavour through my office to get some of the specific details the Deputy has requested in his supplementary question.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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On a point of order, and for the information of the Minister of State, I have submitted queries to Irish Water and in those particular cases it took almost two months for it to come back to me. This is why I am raising it on the floor of the Dáil. The replies were very vague. It is important that we are still able to raise issues on the floor of the Dáil. I know the Ceann Comhairle supports this. This is why we like to get answers from Ministers and why my constituents like to get answers from Ministers.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Minister of State will oblige.