Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I would not describe my reply as a stock reply. There is a significant amount of information in it, much more than I was used to when I was a Member of this House.

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to clarify the position about Fingal County Council's proposal to build a new wastewater treatment plant to facilitate development within Fingal and the greater Dublin area in general.

When my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, was addressing a debate on infrastructure and capital investment in this House on 22 November 2011, Senator Darragh O'Brien raised the issue of the new wastewater treatment plant being constructed in north County Dublin as part of the greater Dublin strategic drainage project and cited a price of €2.3 billion to €2.7 billion for the plant. He urged the Minister to re-evaluate the project as it "did not stack up in terms of value for money". On that basis, the Minister agreed to investigate the matter and his Department subsequently raised it with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

The price tag that has been attributed to the project in some quarters, and referred to by Senator O'Brien in his statement, is well wide of the mark. In fact, the cost he cited refers to the cost of all the wastewater projects in the greater Dublin area identified by the greater Dublin strategic drainage study in 2005. The expected capital costs of the north Dublin treatment plant, outfall and orbital sewer are not expected to exceed €500 million.

I wish to apprise this House of developments on the project. In March 2011, Fingal County Council appointed consultants to prepare a preliminary report and environmental impact assessment for the north Dublin treatment plant and orbital sewer. The identification of potential locations for the regional wastewater treatment plant is an important step in this process.

In October 2011, as part of phase 1, based on the alternative sites assessment and route selection report, Fingal County Council identified nine potential land parcels in the northern part of the greater Dublin area within which a proposed regional wastewater treatment plant could potentially be located, along with a marine outfall and an orbital drainage system. The council carried out an eight-week non-statutory public consultation seeking views on the proposals and the land parcels. These nine land parcels were then assessed as potential locations in which to site the regional wastewater treatment plant. The routes for the orbital drainage system and the marine outfall pipe locations were also assessed. Site-specific information, more in-depth desktop research, consultations and detailed site surveys, in addition to feedback from the public, were used to assist in identifying the locations with the least impact under 15 criteria. Of these nine land parcels, three sites have now been identified by the council as emerging preferred site options in phase 2 according to the alternative sites assessment and route selection report. A further eight-week, non-statutory public consultation period commenced on Monday, 14 May 2012, and it is to run until 6 July 2012. As part of this process, four open days are being arranged by the council on which the public can meet the project team and discuss the report.

When the preferred site is identified, the council will prepare detailed plans and complete an environmental impact statement. This environmental impact statement, together with a planning application under the Planning and Development Strategic Infrastructure Act 2006, will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála. An Bord Pleanála will carry out its own statutory public consultation on the project. I urge the north Dublin communities to engage in the current non-statutory public consultation process and in the important statutory consultation processes that will be available as the project proceeds.