Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter and I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I hoped the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Cullen, would attend, but I understand he is ill.

I have raised the issue of the Castlebar treatment plant to ask how it will be funded. Everyone involved recently received a national development plan document in which the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government promised the provision of €5.4 billion for the water services investment programme over the next number of years. The Minister says that in addition to the 41 schemes at construction stage, 367 schemes will commence construction between 2003 and 2005. A further 98 schemes are at planning stage and will commence construction later in the national development plan and 231 schemes are to commence under the serviced land and rural towns and villages initiatives. The majority of those schemes will come on stream in the same way as the scheme at Castlebar. Part of the work at Castlebar has been carried out, but the substantial element which includes the construction of the new treatment unit and the extension of pipelines has not.