Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. She will understand my frustration as a public representative who has put together a concept, drafted it, got it through the political system and back office Department system and had it announced and put to tender. It took from 2020 to December 2023 to get it through, only to find a year later virtually nothing has happened. I do not accept it is as complex as suggested. Irish Water has a framework agreement with a number of contractors. We are not reinventing the wheel. Irish Water has framework agreements to make contact with any contractor and say what is needed. Within a very short period, work could begin. It does not have to be retendered because Irish Water has framework agreements in place in which is agreed the cost of every metre of piping that has to go into the ground. It knows the cost associated with treatment plants based on the projected size.

My concern is officials are slowing this down for no good reason because they are not happy there has been a process to circumvent the dead hand of Irish Water. There is no reason for any further delays. I ask the Minister of State, Minister and Government to instruct the local authority to proceed without delay and get this project in place. The moneys have been assigned. Get the work done. The people of Broadford and Cooraclare deserve to see their villages have the potential to grow and survive into the future. Other villages are coming behind, whether Doolin, Carrigaholt or a myriad of others across County Clare and other counties, that need life bred into them. They need the go-ahead now.