Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I appreciate that this is a busy day in the Department of Finance. I particularly appreciate the Minister of State coming to the House to take this matter.

The Minister of State will recall that in June and July of this year, we dealt with the issue of a boil water notice in Ferns, County Wexford, which impacted more than 1,700 people. I want to put on the record my thanks to her for raising a number of the issues with Uisce Éireann, even though the responsibility does not fall to her Department, to ensure that the people of Ferns have access to adequate drinking water. That issue pointed to our creaking water infrastructure. The issue I raise today relates to the importance of the wastewater treatment system in the country and the concern for Ferns and its neighbouring community of Camolin. Those areas cannot expand because of the lack of wastewater capacity. Wexford County Council has indicated that the development of a wastewater treatment plant at Ferns is a priority. The intention is to be able to pump some of the wastewater from Camolin to Ferns to allow those communities to grow. Uisce Éireann told us approximately a year ago that it would be at least five years before the issue is addressed. One of the problems is that we in the north Wexford community have been hearing for more than 20 years about how the issues in Ferns and Camolin will be addressed. The late Independent councillor, Mr. Declan MacPartlin, championed the issue in the 2000s. He was told it would be a part of a village bundle.

The challenge for us in the Gorey local electoral area is that in the inter-census period of 2016 to 2022, there was a 14% increase in population. That was one of the highest rates of increase of any local electoral area in the country and has obviously put enormous pressure on Gorey town, which has capacity. It has stymied development in many of the nearby villages simply because they do not have the necessary water capacity. In Uisce Éireann's own list of wastewater treatment plants, those indicated in red around the Gorey area have no further available capacity. Those areas include Ballycanew, Camolin, Coolgreany, Ballymoney, Boolavogue, Killinierin and Monamolin. All of those are villages within the community. At the same time, we have restrictions on the numbers of rural dwellings that are allowed to be constructed. If we are not going to allow people to build in country areas, we must encourage them to live in their nearby villages. However, if we do not have the necessary wastewater capacity, that cannot happen. It is forcing people into our towns and other major urban areas. Ferns and Camolin have been crying out for this to be addressed for more than 20 years but it is not being prioritised by Uisce Éireann.This Government's top priority, as the Deputy is aware, is addressing housing and we have made significant progress. I hope in the budget today, as part of the surplus, that we will see significant investment in Uisce Éireann to address the deficits in our water infrastructure but, in particular, I hope we see investment in those villages to allow them to expand and to build houses that we all need, particularly in our rural communities. The wastewater treatment plant issue needs to be addressed. In the same way that the Minister of State has been very helpful in the past on a number of issues, I hope we can apply pressure to Uisce Éireann again to address the problem of the wastewater treatment plant serving Ferns and Camolin.