Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Page 41 of the programme for Government says the Government will “support Uisce Éireann in the delivery of key strategic projects in our cities and regions.” It also says we will:

Invest additional capital in Uisce Éireann to support reaching our new housing targets. We will prioritise water and waste water infrastructure to deliver the capacity to facilitate housing development in our towns and villages.

I have one more very important quote from the programme for Government, which I want to read into the record. It reads: "Ensure Uisce Éireann prioritises the delivery of the Small Towns and Villages Programme." The phrasing of that is very important for the examples I am going to give today, that Uisce Éireann would prioritise that programme rather than continue to prioritise it.

I am going to focus on one local issue today which highlights a greater national issue around wastewater capacity, particularly in our smaller towns and villages. The issue for me is in Cloughjordan in north Tipperary. For the best part of 15 years we have needed an increase in capacity in that plant. This is an illustration of so many small towns and villages that cannot build houses while they are waiting on Uisce Éireann to start developing the plant or to increase capacity in the plant. As a result of a lack of capacity, we have a DPI in Cloughjordan for the Townfields housing estate, which 17 years later cannot be connected to the mains system. New social housing cannot be built. There are over 30 people on social housing lists in this small village alone and no new houses can be built there. No new private housing can be built because of a lack of capacity in the plant. We also have the ecovillage in Cloughjordan which is known nationally and internationally for the sustainable community it is, with dozens of serviced sites, none of which can be sold or built on because of a lack of capacity in the system.

In a response from Uisce Éireann, it said this issue was being addressed through the small towns and villages growth programme and was currently progressing through stage 2, preliminary business case of a wastewater treatment plant project. Roughly 15 years after we learned that we needed an increase in capacity in this plant, Uisce Éireann is telling us it is at the preliminary business case stage. To me that is utterly unacceptable.

I am sharing this one case as an example of the dozens of small towns and villages across this nation that cannot build houses until we get capacity in our wastewater treatment system. It is a wider societal and economic issue because of our water quality and because of our rural population decline and rural regeneration, whether it is our schools, our clubs or our sense of community in keeping people in their home area. It is also in relation to our housing delivery.

While I welcome these very clear commitments in the programme for Government, I hope we will be able to work through them and deliver on them. It is one thing to write a very large cheque to Uisce Éireann to deliver these projects. It is another thing entirely to ensure that it delivers on time, on budget and with a sense of urgency. We feel the sense of urgency when it comes to the delivery of housing. These small towns and villages feel it. Will Uisce Éireann also feel that sense of urgency?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Aontaím leis an Teachta go bhfuil géarghá ann i bhfad níos mó infheistíochta maidir le huisce a dhéanamh sna bailte beaga ar fud na tíre, go háirithe sna háiteanna iargúlta. Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil easpa infheistíochta sna bailte beaga ag an mbabhta seo agus tá drochthionchar aici sin ar chúrsaí tithíochta agus ar an infheistíocht go ginearálta.

I agree that there is a very significant issue in terms of capacity of Irish Water and in terms of investment, particularly in small towns and villages. If they had the water infrastructure, it would enable small housing schemes to happen much more quickly than has been the case. I have been around the country in places like Cloughjordan where issues similar to those described by the Deputy in Cloughjordan are the norm. The former Minister for housing, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, created the small towns and villages scheme but it has been slow in terms of delivery. I have met with Irish Water once already in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn. I will be meeting it shortly. Ten years ago, only about €300 million was being spent on water infrastructure and that is now at about €1.3 billion as of last year. About €10 billion was allocated from 2025 to 2029 for the Uisce Éireann strategic funding plan. We have made the commitment to increase the level of capital to Irish Water over the next while. However, I am absolutely clear that this has to be tied to new supply to enable housing and infrastructural development around the entire country. We also have to look at the regulatory framework to get a proper balance between compliance, EPA compliance and so on, and new development and new wastewater treatment plants in new areas which would facilitate more housing. Housing is the number one social issue and crisis facing the country. Enabling infrastructure such as water would enable us to get houses built more evenly across the country and in areas where services already exist, contiguous to villages and towns. We could get a lot more done.

We have already approved some big projects, such as the water supply project, for example, which was approved last June and is to deal with the water supply deficit and lack of capacity in the eastern and midlands regions. It will supply water from a hydropower reservoir on the Shannon. That has to happen. It is a huge cost. We have approved it. The greater Dublin drainage project with a cost of €1.2 billion is still with An Bord Pleanála. The Deputy's key point is that parallel with all of that, if any new investment is allocated, it has to go to the small towns and villages across the country.

Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Housing is absolutely the single greatest issue facing my generation. There is no doubt about it. I appreciate the Taoiseach acknowledged the seriousness of the issue. While it is so important that we get that increased and record level of investment, the delivery is key and that is where my concern remains, that Uisce Éireann will be able to do this on time and with a sense of urgency. I also take issue with the fact that it is so difficult to get a response to parliamentary questions when we try to put them to Uisce Éireann. I appreciate there are standing orders but it is very frustrating when we want to get an answer.

Outside of Cloughjordan, Nenagh, the major town next to it, and Ballycommon face the very same issue. Some 138 social houses cannot be built in Nenagh at the moment because of the capacity issue, nor can 33 houses in Ballycommon. I really hope we will see progress on this scheme. I welcome the commitment and funding that is being put into it. I hope that we will be able to continue to work on it and continue the delivery of that infrastructure that will allow us to get the houses we so desperately need.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I refer to our engagement with Uisce Éireann, and I will be meeting with it. Given the scale of what is required in the country, we have to be a bit more innovative as well. It is not on that 132 houses cannot get built or are waiting for years for connection. I know there has been a resistance to the private sector developing some of these systems and I understand why, by the way, because in the past certain operators did not fully do the infrastructure properly and there were consequences. However, we are going to have to look at that question. The crisis is so severe that we just cannot do business as usual. The Nenaghs and the Ballycommons cannot wait around for years to get 130 houses built which are urgently needed. These are issues that I will be examining with the Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure and with Irish Water.