Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Ó Domhnaill for raising this issue as it relates to water conservation works, which the Minister and I view as vitally important work and a key element of our Department's water services investment programme.

The main objectives of the water conservation programme are to reduce water loss in the public supply networks, to obtain value for money by deferring capital expenditure on new water supply schemes through improved supply and reduced consumption and ensuring environmental protection by deferring the need to develop unnecessarily new water sources.

There are three distinct stages to water conservation on public water supply schemes. First, a local authority must put in place a water management system that enables the authority to monitor water use and loss throughout the supply networks. Second, the authority must establish an active leakage control programme, finding and fixing leaks, and, based on the results of these two stages, must establish a prioritised pipe rehabilitation strategy for its area. The third stage is the rehabilitation and replacement of defective supply networks where repair has proven to be uneconomic due to the age or condition of the pipes.

As a general rule, the Department does not authorise a local authority to undertake mains rehabilitation works unless the authority has largely implemented the water management and leakage control works necessary throughout its functional area and has completed its strategy for mains rehabilitation on a prioritised countywide basis. To date, the Department has funded water conservation works in County Donegal costing almost €8 million and additional funding of €17 million for this type of work is proposed.

Some time ago Donegal County Council submitted an application to the Department to carry out pipe replacement works on elements of the Rosses regional water supply pipe network under the water conservation programme. The proposed work involves replacement of old cast iron watermains which the council has indicated are now encrusted, reducing flows in the pipes and, when large quantities of water are drawn through, leading to increased levels of colour in the supply. It, however, has yet to fully complete its water management and leakage control works and has not finalised its prioritised county-wide strategy for mains rehabilitation. In such circumstances, my Department would not normally authorise rehabilitation work.

At a recent meeting between my Department and Donegal County Council the council again stressed the need for approval to proceed with urgent mains rehabilitation works in the Rosses region. In view of the stated urgency expressed by the council, my Department has undertaken to re-examine its proposal. A decision on the matter will be conveyed to the council as quickly as possible. In view of the incident in Crolly village last weekend when large quantities of water were required for fire-fighting purposes in the village and the resulting problems with coloured water, I have asked my Department to expedite its examination of the issue.