Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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14. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026 will apply to wastewater projects irrespective of their scale or geographic location; if he will consider a programme-level designation for wastewater treatment infrastructure across the country rather than limiting fast-track status to individual large-scale projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40521/26]

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Many towns and villages lack adequate wastewater treatment, with a significant number discharging raw sewage every day. The planning process is one aspect where long delays can occur in the delivery of wastewater treatment plants. Given the huge issues we have with water quality and our failure to comply with EU legislation, will the Minister consider a national designation for all wastewater treatment plants across the country, regardless of their size, under the Critical Infrastructure Bill?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Cooney. Allowing the Government to designate certain projects or programmes as critical infrastructure is the core of the Critical Infrastructure Bill. By establishing a clear legal basis for prioritisation, the legislation will reduce ambiguity and ensure that critical projects and programmes receive focused and co-ordinated attention across Departments, regulators and agencies. It will address the unacceptable delays in our infrastructure approval processes by mandating whole-of-State co-operation and creating a fast-track pathway for critical projects and programmes without skipping any steps in the approval process or weakening safeguards. I have consistently stated in the Oireachtas that the designation process will not commence until after the Bill's enactment. However, I have also stressed the need for restraint in the designation process. If too many projects or programmes are afforded critical status, the impact of designation will consequently be limited. As I outlined in the Oireachtas, while the designation process has not commenced, when it does, my focus will be on recommending a small number of critical projects or programmes that will facilitate the acceleration of infrastructure across the energy, transport and water sectors, in particular, with a focus on infrastructure that will support housing. Section 1 of the Bill specifically identifies wastewater and waste management systems as being included within the definition of infrastructure. It is in that context that I will be assessing this when the Bill is enacted.

I recognise the importance of wastewater infrastructure but I also note that this Bill is just one of the vehicles being pushed to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure. In the report and action plan, 30 actions were identified to address the 12 barriers to infrastructure delivery and we are keen to advance all of them to ensure that we deliver the transformation and scale that is required.

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. I have to be direct with him. Wastewater treatment is named in the Government's own Bill as critical infrastructure. Logic dictates, then, that individual rural schemes should not have to make their own separate case for designation under the Bill. As far as I am concerned, they should all be included. The communities I represent in County Clare are not asking for special treatment. They are asking that a common application of this Bill will be applied to them. A programme-level designation for outstanding wastewater schemes, regardless of their scale, would cost the Exchequer nothing and could profoundly affect the delivery timeline. Can the Minister give this serious reconsideration? Will he reconsider that all these small schemes be included.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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First of all, we have not yet commenced the process of assessing what will or will not be designated, and when we designate a particular project, when it can be fast-tracked. For example, if something is at a very early stage, it does not necessarily benefit from particular designation.

Second, we are prioritising water and wastewater systems because they are critical to housing delivery in villages and towns and for economic development across the country. This is an enabler for ensuring that we reduce the time taken to build these in various parts of the country. However, there has not been a decision on a project-specific basis and on a regional basis except to say that the area the Deputy is speaking about is one of the areas we will be seeking to prioritise in the context of the Bill. We have yet to conclude that assessment, however.

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. Again, this question is not about Uisce Éireann’s capital programme. It is about whether the Minister will look at the current status of wastewater treatment as a national scandal, one that has huge negative consequences for the environment and all our communities, whether rural, coastal or urban. The Minister accepts that wastewater is critical infrastructure. All that remains is for him to determine whether a large project in a city has more virtue than a smaller one in rural communities. I hope he will also give that consideration. It is about the Government using its own Bill to put the solution to this problem front and centre. It would be a significant statement of our commitment to finally take this problem seriously. If the Minister is not willing to give me a commitment to extend the programme-level designation to all wastewater projects regardless of scale or location today, maybe he would respond to me within three months with an update.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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To be factual about it, we have not decided designation on any project in any area up to now. We are going to conclude the legislation, which passed this House and will pass in the Seanad in June. I am familiar with parts of the Deputy's county and indeed across the west of Ireland, the midlands and elsewhere, where people have been waiting on wastewater treatment plants for far too long. There is huge environmental damage in some of the rivers and the water systems which is connected to the delays that we are seeing where that infrastructure has not been built. We will work with Uisce Éireann around designation when we conclude the Bill but also on other barriers to delivery. The legislative path is one path that will improve speed but there are other areas where we have to drive reform. The added capital allocation to Uisce Éireann should significantly improve the throughput and the scale of what is delivered but we will work with the Deputy constructively on that.