Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of water services and Irish Water and the impact this is having on rural towns and villages. The need for investment in water services is apparent. We have a new housing policy and its success is dependent on the provision of adequate water and sewerage services. I am talking about this issue because of an instance I came across yesterday where planning permission was refused in Rosscarbery on the back of not having adequate infrastructure. It is not possible to provide water services on the site because Irish Water's infrastructure does not have the capacity to service it.

If this trend were to continue, we could have similar situations in places like Courtmacsherry and Clonakilty as well as in Rosscarbery. Those areas could, in effect, be sterilised regarding the building of housing for the next five years until such time as adequate water services are provided. That would have a huge impact on rural society and on the constituency of Cork South-West, and we must have a coherent debate on how we are going to provide adequate water services in the short term. We all have long-term plans, but short-term needs exist and they are apparent. We must see a vast improvement in our housing figures and the key to achieving that lies in the provision of water services in the short term.

This aspect must be prioritised, and especially in places like Clonakilty, Rosscarbery and Courtmacsherry. If that is done, then significant developments can happen in the next five years. To have a situation as we now do, where development has been effectively sterilised because of a lack of water services, is bizarre and cannot continue. I ask the Leader, therefore, if we can have a debate on this issue with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien, in the context of bringing forward meaningful and short-term remedies to deal with these water issues.