Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, taking this matter?

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Yes. We are honoured.

Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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It is a bit surprising that no Minister from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is available. I thought we had a Brexit crisis, but seeing the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, here, I wonder where the Government's priorities are.

Anyway I return to my own issue of importance. I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this Topical Issue matter. When I was elected to this House in 2016, on top of the dilemma of a Government being formed, the first thing Oireachtas Members did was to create a committee to investigate policies and articulate ways of going forward in the development of housing.

I live outside Mitchelstown, which is a planned historic town. It is ideally located just off the M7, the Dublin to Cork motorway. It also filters traffic on to Mallow and Killarney via the N73. The other place we are discussing today is Glanworth, which is also a renowned historic village. It is also within commuting distance of Cork city. Employment is being created in the area and, as I said, both are close to Cork city and Fermoy so it is a good location for people to live and rear families.

We have a major problem. The provision of housing has been an area of contention for the Government. It has launched programme after programme to get construction under way.

The elephant in the room, which is a big issue in north County Cork, is Irish Water. Over two years or more there have been many planning applications, some granted and some pending, but none of them can end up giving the key to the owner of the house because we have a major problem. The wastewater treatment plants in Mitchelstown and Glanworth are closed to the granting of licences for new applications. It is causing a major hindrance and is affecting the development of these two tremendous locations in north County Cork. It is a disgrace. Irish Water gave commitments that it was about to do up these plants.

The local authority has granted one developer planning permission, and although he can proceed the stage of having the houses ready, he cannot connect to the sewer until Irish water has its projects completed. How on earth can any small-time developer build houses and not be sure when he will be able to hand over the keys for these properties? Many of those involved can be on bridging loans attracting higher interest rates and it is unfair. It is creating problems in Mitchelstown in particular. We have seen some growth in employment with people seeking accommodation to rent or buy. It is hindering the growth of Mitchelstown.

I do not know what the Minister of State will tell me, but I hope she can provide some clarity as to when Irish Water can give a timeframe for the works to commence. Even the planning authority is weary of Irish Water's letters of comfort at the moment. There are a couple of cases at the moment where the local authority will not even acknowledge the planning applications because it is not too sure if Irish Water will go ahead.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, who sends his apologies for not being able to be present.

I will first outline the work that Irish Water has been doing, which is important to set the scene for what we are discussing. 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 water services authority is taking a strategic, nationwide approach to asset planning and investment, and meeting customer requirements.

Irish Water is working with all the local authorities to support housing development as a priority including in north County Cork. Furthermore, it has established a dedicated connection and developer services function to work with developers through a pre-connection inquiry service.

It delivers its services in accordance with its water services strategic plan published in October 2015. This sets out a high-level strategy over 25 years to ensure the provision of clean safe drinking water, effective management of wastewater, environmental protection, and support for economic and social development.

In addition, the first ever national water services policy statement, prepared in line with the Water Services Acts, which was launched on 21 May 2018, outlines a clear direction for strategic planning and decision making on water and wastewater services in Ireland. It identifies key policy objectives and priorities for the delivery of water and wastewater services in Ireland up to 2025. It provides the context within which necessary funding and investment plans by Irish Water are framed and agreed.

On 7 November 2018, the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, approved the Irish Water strategic funding plan for 2019 to 2024.

This sets out Irish Water's multi-annual strategic funding requirement of €11 billion out to 2024. This comprises €6.1 billion of investment in infrastructure and assets and €4.9 billion in operating costs. This significant multi-billion euro investment programme aims to ensure the continued operation, repair and upgrading of the country’s water and wastewater infrastructure to support social and economic development across the State and continued care of the water environment, including the projects to which Deputy O'Keeffe referred.

The strategic funding plan is now subject to economic regulatory review by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, which will consider the efficiency of the investment proposals together with submissions from Irish Water on its detailed investment plans for the third regulatory control period from 2020 to 2024. The investment plans will set out Irish Water’s financial planning for capital investments to support its strategic objectives to deliver improvements to water services where they are needed most.

I will outline to the Deputy the situation with regard to planning applications in my follow-up response.

Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I acknowledge that there is liaison between developers, the planning section of the local authority and Irish Water. However, engineers in Cork County Council are getting frustrated at this stage. They are reluctant to even consider planning permission applications at the moment because they feel that the commitment from Irish Water has not been copper-fastened. Regarding Glanworth, for example, the local authority is in discussions with a developer and has committed to taking possession of a number of social houses, which is welcome news. It also takes away the fear that the local authority might buy houses on an ad hocbasis. Projects have been shovel ready for two years or more. In 2016, issues relating to wastewater treatment at Mitchelstown and Glanworth came to a head. At the same time, we had good news for Mitchelstown regarding the opening of Ornua's butter plant, which would be a major discharger of effluent.

The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government must provide assurances to Cork County Council that Irish Water's commitment to upgrade these wastewater treatment plants is sufficiently robust to allow developers to go ahead with building houses. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that the commitments given by Irish Water in this regard will be accepted by the local authority. As it stands, the planning section of Cork County Council is reluctant to accept commitments received in correspondence and emails from Irish Water. We are talking here about three lovely developments in Mitchelstown. There are no ghost estates in Mitchelstown but we could end up with ghost estates because houses will be built that will not be occupied. I ask the Minister of State to relay my concerns to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his comments. I appreciate that this is a matter of major concern for him, although I understand that he is not just talking about his own community and county, and that this may well be an issue in other areas as well. That said, I assure the Deputy that Irish Water is trying to develop and implement a long-term investment perspective to strategically address significant deficiencies in the public water and wastewater systems. This is a long-term issue that it is trying to fix and when one is trying to fix something that has been broken so substantially for such a significant time, it will take some time to do so. Irish Water is working with all of the local authorities to support housing development as a priority. I assure the Deputy that this is a priority not just for Irish Water but also for the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government. The utility is implementing its capital investment programme, which prioritises investment decisions to ensure that it utilises available funding most effectively by making investments that deliver the best improvements to water and wastewater infrastructure and services while maximising value for money.

I understand that the upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant in Mitchelstown is currently at the planning and design stage, with construction expected to commence in the latter part of 2019 for completion in 2021. That is the timeline that has been given to me but if that differs to that given to the local authority, I ask the Deputy to inform the Department of same. In the case of Glanworth, I understand that Irish Water’s plans to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant are being advanced as part of a bundle of projects that are due to be tendered for in 2019, after which a definitive timetable for completion will be developed. Irish Water anticipates that the works will ultimately be completed by end of the first quarter in 2020. These projects are a priority for the company and for the Department. If the Deputy or other Members have further queries, they can use Irish Water's dedicated Oireachtas helpline. If what I have outlined is not what council officials have been told, I ask the Deputy to make me aware of that and I will bring it to the Minister's attention.