Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I am not inviting it.

Senator Ó Murchú and others expressed another view on the urban-rural issue. Some €500 million has been spent in the past ten years under the rural water programme, which was a serious investment to improve water quality, particularly through group schemes. It should be acknowledged the State is still subsidising these schemes in rural areas and people are benefiting from the improvements that have been carried out by successive Governments. The same investment was required proportionately for urban areas because of the difficulties they encountered over the years in terms of urban waste water treatment plants, which are still a significant problem in villages and towns and must be addressed.