Dáil debates

Wednesday, 3 May 2023

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Water Services

8:45 pm

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

For well over ten years, the wastewater treatment plan in Cluain na Croise in Crossbarry has been malfunctioning and it is causing huge difficulty for locals. As far back as 2016, the plant was one of only half a dozen that the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications was advancing through a pilot scheme to resolve defective developer-led infrastructure. Unfortunately, Crossbarry was the only village in the original pilot scheme that did not advance to construction. A new resolution programme was developed, based around the pilot, to resolve issues with defective developer led infrastructure such as in Crossbarry. Cork County Council put forward the Cluain na Croise plant to be dealt with. It was part of the Department's new scheme.

Unfortunately, there has been back-and-forth and questions and answers over the past number of years. It is very frustrating for locals not seeing the Crossbarry wastewater treatment plant being repaired. Many smaller plants have been advanced through the Department's programme which have overtaken Crossbarry, and more luck to them because they were needed. So too is the plant in Cluain na Croise in Crossbarry. It has been very difficult for residents who have put up with blocked sewers, foul smells and overflows that the council has to repeatedly clean up. It is very unfair on locals. This needs to be resolved.

Householders are concerned. They want to see a pathway to resolving this issue so they can move on with their lives and know that the defective treatment plant at the end of the village will be fixed. Resolving the plant in Cluain na Croise and linking it to the other defective plants in the village would have many benefits. There is the obvious environmental benefit in repairing the plant and improving water quality, but there is also a demand for housing locally. Crossbarry is a desirable place to live. It has easy access to Cork and Bandon and nearby work in Brinny. It has good schools and a strong community spirit. It is an attractive place to live.

There are zoned lands in the village, but in the absence of the treatment plant they are not accessible. It is not just a nuisance on its own. There is a huge struggle for locals getting houses. They have contacted me about getting planning permission for one-off houses or even sewer connections in the absence of the plant. Repairing the defective plant and linking it to the other malfunctioning plants around the village make sense in terms of unlocking the opportunity, removing the major nuisance and improving water quality.

Similar plants have been advanced, which plug into the Uisce Éireann network and remove the temporary plants. Crossbarry is a much larger scheme and could be a destination for all of the other plants in the village, linking the likes of Lissagroom Meadows and other homes and businesses. It could unlock zoned ground. Some of the infrastructure is already in the ground.

Over the years, I have been in constant contact's with Cork County Council as it is trying to deal with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and, to a lesser extent, Uisce Éireann in order to advance Crossbarry. Time and again, the council is asked same questions. It has been very forthcoming with answers. There have been no questions for some months and the Department's expert group should have all the data needed to make a positive decision.

The Minister of State will recall that when the Department put in place a programme in 2018 and 2019, it was based on the lessons learned from the pilot scheme. Despite that, Crossbarry still does not appear to have advanced. How could that be? Why is Crossbarry being left for so long? What can be done to get the malfunctioning plant sorted, get rid of the nuisance and give locals in Crossbarry a chance to get on with their lives?

Photo of Malcolm NoonanMalcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A small number of housing estates nationally rely on developer-provided water services infrastructure, commonly referred to as DPI, for their water services. The infrastructure concerned mainly consists of wastewater treatment facilities, with a small number providing drinking water services for the estate. The majority of estates with DPI are legacy issues from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. The infrastructure was generally provided by the developer of the estate and is not connected to the public water network of Uisce Éireann. It is important to say that DPI are privately owned, with many coming to the end of their useful life.

The Department provides funding to progressively resolve these legacy issues through the multi-annual developer provided water services infrastructure resolution programme. The purpose of the programme is to progressively resolve the DPI in estates such as Gleann Alainn, Cluain na Croise, Cul na Greine and Lissagroom Meadows in Crossbarry. It is worth noting that the type of estates involved are not all the same and that there are different solutions required to resolve the DPI issues involved.

8 o’clock

The housing estates range from those located in towns where the solution is to connect directly to the Uisce Éireann network to those that are in remote locations where connecting to the public network may not be possible and where solutions can be considerably more complex, as the Deputy will appreciate. The funding allocated to date under the programme has been to estates where the resolution is to connect to the public network.

The Minister has also announced a number of demonstration projects, including one in Crossbarry, where the locations are remote from the public network. At present, Crossbarry does not have a public collection and central wastewater treatment system. Instead, wastewater from the four housing estates in the village is collected and treated by means of a separate DPI. The solution to the DPI issues in Crossbarry is complex in nature, and the options were fully considered by an independent expert panel. The most appropriate resolution is a stand-alone treatment system that will also benefit the village. The Deputy pointed out the potential knock-on benefits to the expansion of the village and development generally. The points made in this regard are very important. The Department engaged with Uisce Éireann and Cork County Council in developing a solution including certainty around the cost that will fully resolve the DPI issues in Crossbarry. The Minister expects to receive a final submission from the panel shortly. He will then be in a position to make an announcement on funding allocations for locations, including Crossbarry.

It is important to state that Uisce Éireann must be fully on board with any proposed solutions when it comes to DPI because it has responsibility to operate and maintain any new infrastructure when projects are completed.

8:55 pm

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is positive that the expert group is due to report shortly on this issue. We know from all of the exchanges with Cork County Council that it has been very forthcoming in making responses available. We need the response of the expert panel to be positive and to set out a clear pathway. Nobody is expecting a scheme to appear overnight. There is considerable work involved, and we need that expert group to set out a clear pathway and timeframe for how the issue will be resolved in order that residents can get on with their lives. A serious concern is that the expert group will come back with further questions, which would be unreasonable at this point, given there has been so much back and forth over a number of years. This scheme was designed in the context of lessons that were learned from the original pilot. Crossbarry was the only project that did not advance. Whatever is put in place should suit Crossbarry's needs. It is considerably important that we get from the expert group's response a clear pathway of where things are going to go from here

The Minister of State referred to Irish Water and the need to have it-----

Photo of Malcolm NoonanMalcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Fully on board.

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That is almost like a code for a veto. We do not want Irish Water to be stopping this. It needs to happen and Irish Water needs to be on board. We cannot have the Department saying "Yes" and moving on with matters and then another entity getting in the way. Irish Water needs to be on board and should not, in any way, have a veto. Irish Water needs to be on board and get on with it. We ask that a clear pathway be set out for the benefit of the people of Crossbarry.

Photo of Malcolm NoonanMalcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct. That is certainly what the Department, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and I want to achieve. A multi-annual programme is in place to assist bringing resolution in respect of DPI. Such infrastructure is a temporary short-term solution that dragged. We are conscious that the issues with DPI need to be resolved from the point of view of the environmental benefits to the communities and the future development of places such as Crossbarry. We are committed to resolving these issues. Our understanding is that the expert panel will make its final submission on the specific application and the Minister will be in a position to make a decision on that.

It is important that Uisce Éireann is on board with these proposals because they offer a longer term solution for the estates we have mentioned and for places such as Crossbarry that need to develop, evolve and move on. DPI offers a temporary solution. From an environmental point of view, DPI is far from ideal. It is critically important that the issues relating to it are resolved.