Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising the issue again. It is not by any means the first or second time he has raised it in this House and he is representing his constituents most ably to try to advance this, which is of course entirely what they are entitled to. The Senator is already aware that the Water Services Acts 2007-2020 set out the arrangements in place for the delivery of water and wastewater services by Uisce Éireann and he is also aware that the Minister does not have function in relation to the operational matters of Uisce Éireann. However, it is better to get to the point and be efficient.

The Department has made inquiries on this occasion with Uisce Éireann on the Senator's behalf in advance of my response to him, which is very welcome, and the Department has been informed that Ferns is included on Uisce Éireann's priority action list which, judging by his face, I suspect the Senator has heard before. Uisce Éireann is committed to undertaking feasibility study reports for all of their priority action list areas. The stage one strategic assessment for the Ferns wastewater treatment plant commenced in 2023, as the Senator is no doubt aware, to determine its specific challenges and to find suitable solutions including cost estimation, which may include upgrades to the plant.

Of course, it is important to note that all plans are contingent on obtaining relevant statutory consents. The stage two preliminary business case assessment is ongoing and includes Uisce Éireann undertaking detailed analysis, developing a shortlist of solutions and finding the preferred option from the shortlist of projects. This stage also includes estimating the total cost of the project before progressing to stages three and four - final business cases and commissioning of works. As the next capital investment period 2025-2029 is subject to the investment plan submission statutory process with the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, it is not possible to give concrete commitments on capital expenditure beyond 2024 for projects not currently at construction stage.

The most important point that the Senator has raised, if I may say, is the population increase in his area and that must be supported by infrastructure development. He highlighted that today is of course budget day and there is a significant surplus in the budget which, in my view, must be invested into infrastructure development. Here is a perfect example of completely necessary infrastructure development. I hope in the budget today we will see very significant capital allocated to entities like Uisce Éireann. Of course, what we all know as public representatives is while we might assign capital expenditure to different projects, that does not mean they happen efficiently, professionally, on time, within budget and in a strategic and co-ordinated way. It is becoming even more important that we have a centralised, dedicated Department of infrastructure to manage the delivery of these different projects because they can be too ad hoc.

The Senator has also highlighted the importance of housing and the interconnects between housing delivery, local authorities and Uisce Éireann is something of frustration to many Members of these Houses who want to see that they are done in a strategic and co-ordinated way. Between capital investment and a better strategic focus on delivery, I hope we can deliver for the Senator's constituents and everybody else's.