Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for his presence in the House to discuss the issue of a sewerage scheme for Scariff, Feakle and Quilty. This matter has been under discussion between Clare County Council and his Department for a considerable number of years. The various reports have been presented at the relevant stages, but unfortunately we still do not have a start date for the project.

The Minister is aware there were some complications with the project, particularly with regard to the necessity to receive a foreshore licence on the Quilty side of the scheme. Unfortunately, this has protracted the development of the scheme. The situation is now causing significant problems in the villages concerned and the lack of development is destroying potential. The lack of facilities creates a greater difficulty for people who want to live in the area. It also creates planning concerns under Government and council development plan policy because people brought up in the town are unable to get planning permission for rural areas.

The difficulty is that there is no housing available in the towns, particularly in Scariff. I am aware, because I have been working with two young couples about to marry, that people are not able to get planning permission in surrounding areas because they are not from those townlands, yet there is no housing available in their town. It is unreal and unbelievable that a couple starting out cannot get a home. If these sewerage schemes were progressed, they would resolve this problem.

The development of the sewerage schemes would also resolve the issue of one-off rural housing about which we hear so much. People want to live in the countryside, but they would be happy to live in villages and towns if planning permission was available to allow development. However, because of the lack of infrastructural facilities in places like Feakle, Scariff and Quilty, the council will not give planning permission to schemes where the developer has already purchased land and is ready to commence. These schemes which would provide much needed housing cannot get the go ahead.

The situation is now reaching crisis point in these villages. Many of the people who want to live in the area must move 25 miles or more to find suitable housing in areas where there are sewerage schemes in place. I urge the Minister to expedite, however he can, the sewerage schemes for these villages. I have discussed the issue with the Minister in the past and I am aware there were complications. However, we need to find some way to fast track these schemes. It is not good enough for the council to pass the buck to the Department and for the Department to pass it back to the council. There must be a method to deal with the situation. Although the Minister is not long in the Department, he has shown an aggressive attitude in dealing with bureaucracy. I urge him to use that same vigour and zeal to deliver this project.