Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The programme for Government seeks to build 300,000 homes by 2030. It is an ambitious task and one that will need every tool available to Government to deliver.

Every week I hear from local builders who want to help Government to deliver on that ambition by building houses in hundreds of rural communities, helping the Government reach its housing target as well as ensuring the viability of our rural communities.

They are being blocked in many areas by the lack of wastewater infrastructure and the inability of Uisce Éireann to deliver it at speed and scale. Separately, I know the villages of Broadford and Cooraclare in County Clare are no closer to seeing any progress on the pilot wastewater scheme announced by the Government in 2023 and there is no end in sight.

No housing developments will be built in these villages nor in any other settlements in rural Ireland without a treatment system. Rural Ireland simply cannot wait the decades it will take to deliver the treatment plants needed. Uisce Éireann has shown no interest in delivering these small scale treatment systems as it is more focused on the large urban areas.

There is a solution. The use of modular certified wastewater treatment systems should be rolled out throughout the country to support the small scale developments on the thousands of acres of already zoned land in unserviced settlements in rural areas. These modular treatment systems can be engineered and manufactured in controlled environments to extremely high standards, require minimum power and maintenance and operate in compliance with strict EPA guidelines. Designed, built and installed by companies based in Ireland, they are the fastest to deliver, taking months compared with Uisce Éireann which takes years and often decades. Crucially, I ask Uisce Éireann be directed to take in charge the future operation, control and maintenance of these systems once completed, subject to compliance by the builder.

I am aware of two projects in Clare - Kilkishen and Ruan. Uisce Éireann initially said there was no issue with capacity. Developers then used significant resources in progressing planning applications but have since been told that these developments cannot now proceed due to the lack of capacity. Modular systems would allow both these developments - almost 70 homes - to progress. However, responsibility for their future maintenance is an issue and is being passed between State bodies.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy.

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The Department is saying it is an operational matter for Uisce Éireann. Uisce Éireann says it is a local authority matter but the local authority is not the water service authority. The blockage needs to be resolved by the Government direction.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy and ask him to conclude.

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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We keep on hearing of the need to be innovative in the face of housing challenges, yet there is clearly a lack of willingness by State bodies to embrace innovation that is already out there.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Please conclude, Deputy.

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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We have the solution. We just need to get on with it.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Before the Minister answers, for the benefit of the Deputy, when he is asked to conclude it is not a shouting match between both of us or an urgency for him to complete his question. It is to facilitate the Minister to answer. I am flexible in what we do but the Deputy went well over time.

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Thank you.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising what I know is an absolute priority for him and his constituents. He is absolutely passionate about achieving an outcome and delivery above all else. Housing is the number one priority for this Government. Making sure we can deliver housing for every citizen who needs it, be it in urban or rural areas, is the number one priority. That is why we are absolutely committed to delivering on our key objectives for infrastructure to support the delivery of the more than 300,000 houses we committed to by 2030.

While scaling up capacity is an enormous challenge, we appreciate that this can be facilitated through appropriate Government supports to increase the capacity for critical infrastructure. This is something we have really focused in on. How do we make sure we unlock where there are blockages, challenges and issues that are preventing housing developments from progressing? We are doing a number of things in this regard.

First, we have established the new infrastructure division within the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and that will lead to a process of infrastructure reform. To complement and work with that, the new housing activation office in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will identify what the barriers and challenges are to ensure we can open up any infrastructure needed to enable housing development.

In terms of Uisce Éireann in particular, I acknowledge the Deputy is referencing areas where it is not perhaps providing the support as quickly as we need it. A huge amount has been invested in Uisce Éireann. We have ramped up capital delivery. It has gone from €300 million in 2014 to roughly €1.3 billion in 2024. It is a significant investment over the ten years. Some €2.2 billion has been provided to Uisce Éireann again for this year. We are investing additional capital under the NDP as well to facilitate, in particular, housing developments in our towns. It is really important as significant investment is made into Uisce Éireann that we can see very clearly how that then correlates to additional housing developments and the opening up of new developments.

We are supporting investment in electricity. Almost 150,000 homes and businesses have been connected. This is supported through ESB Networks and EirGrid. In addition, we have the Planning and Development Act, which took a huge amount of time to progress during the previous Government but which is now being implemented and commenced.

To respond to the Deputy's point, what we now need to do is to make sure we are doing everything possible to apply common sense and to ensure that where Uisce Éireann is perhaps not in a position in smaller developments in rural areas to proceed as quickly as we would like, or would need, that we can put in place other measures. It is credible and something the Minister, Deputy Browne, is looking at and is happy to engage further, in conjunction with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins. In a small number of situations, where there is a need for infrastructure to be put in place immediately in smaller developments, we could work with local private providers, making sure the standards were adhered to and were at a particular level similar to that of Irish Water. That is so that this work could happen immediately and we could unlock any of the barriers re preventing these smaller rural towns, villages or developments from providing homes for our young people, families and those who need them most. I commend the Deputy on putting forward what I think is a really workable solution and something I know the Department is very open to.

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Innovation is not just about invention; it is about approaching old problems with fresh eyes. Today, on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people across Ireland who are still searching for a home, I ask the Government to seriously consider the proposals I have put forward. We need to enable developers to provide wastewater infrastructure for housing developments that are currently stalled due to the lack of such essential services. I call on the Government to bring Uisce Éireann, developers, local councils and all the relevant authorities together to unlock the system and allow these shovel-ready developments to finally move forward. At the moment, we are losing the fight but I am proposing a solution. I am now asking the Government to step in and direct Uisce Éireann to take in charge these modular certified wastewater treatment systems that are the key to unlocking thousands of homes across hundreds of communities, which is vital and important.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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What is absolutely key is delivery and that we look at problems with fresh eyes and in a new way and make sure those who are responsible and able to deliver are very much part of the solution. That is why Uisce Éireann will be part of the various bodies I mentioned - the new infrastructure office established in the Department of public expenditure and the new housing delivery office.

It is really important we are very committed in terms of financial assistance. This Government has made it very clear that of the significant increase in funding for the NPD review a huge proportion of that will be targeted at Uisce Éireann and infrastructure overall - how we open up our roads and water network and make sure we are not just investing in clean water but are making sure new infrastructure is there to ensure we have new homes being developed in every part of the country.

We also have our new national planning framework which has gone through the Houses. That makes it very clear that this is not just about development in built up areas and in urban areas. This is about making sure we have balanced regional development, making sure our rural towns and communities benefit from it.

I know the Department is very open to looking at proposal the Deputy outlined. It is a common-sense approach, making sure that when we have people on the ground, the resources are there to be able to unlock these challenges and that we work with them, making sure they are able to do this and supporting them and, above all, that we support the opening up of new homes for people in our communities.