John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for providing me with an opportunity to set out the position on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. As stated by Senator Cannon, the Minister earlier this week published a comprehensive range of new water services infrastructure to be undertaken under his Department's Water Services Investment Programme 2010-2012. The total value of contracts underway and those in County Galway proposed for commencement during the period of the programme is some €130 million. The Loughrea regional water supply scheme is included in the list of schemes to advance through planning in this period.

Given the changed economic climate and the finalisation of the first cycle of river basin management plans, the new programme aims to prioritise projects that target environmental compliance issues. It also fully supports economic and employment growth as envisaged in the Government's policy document Building Ireland's Smart Economy - A Framework for Sustainable Economic Revival. The scope and format of the programme for 2010-2012 is designed to reflect ongoing environmental and economic priorities better, to maximise the return on public funds being invested in the sector and to ensure the programme is realistic in its level of ambition.

In developing the programme, a review was undertaken of all contracts and schemes listed in the previous programme in regard to which there had been little progress during the past two years to ensure those proceeding were aligned with current priorities. In this context, while the proposals for upgrading Loughrea water treatment plant were considered to reflect programme priorities, the planning of this infrastructure under previous programme cycles had not advanced sufficiently to allow for its inclusion as a contract to start construction in the programme period.

The length of time taken for schemes included in the water services investment programme to advance to completion of construction largely depends on the nature and complexity of the scheme and the statutory processes involved. The Department is involved at key stages in the development of schemes to ensure compliance with obligations relating to management and oversight of Exchequer expenditure. Ultimately, responsibility in relation to the detailed progression of schemes is a matter for the relevant local authority, in this instance Galway County Council.

In the case of Loughrea regional water supply, while this scheme was designated to commence construction last year under the 2007-09 programme, the planning phase of the scheme was not finalised during that programme period. The Department received from Galway County Council in early February this year a revised preliminary report setting out the latest design proposals for this scheme. The Department is examining this report and will convey a decision on it to the council as soon as possible. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has included an annual review process as one of a number of new measures in the Water Services Investment Programme 2010-2012 under which the programme will be reviewed and updated annually to allow for any reprioritisation required for the balance of the programme. This is intended to deal with investment requirements arising, for example, from the clarification of appropriate treatment for certain agglomerations from the licensing and certification process for waste water discharges rolled out by the EPA or from the ongoing monitoring of drinking water standards which may highlight risks which need to be addressed.

In regard to the Loughrea scheme, I can assure the Senator that the Department will continue to work closely with Galway County Council to ensure the scheme and other water services contracts and schemes included in the council's water services investment programme are advanced as far as practicable during the course of the next three years.