Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Scahill for raising this issue today. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne, my colleague in the Department. I will give a general response and then address specifically the areas in Roscommon, Cloonfad and Lowberry Cross, that were raised.

I would suggest that Senator Scahill writes directly to the Minister on those particular villages and make specific reference to them. I have no doubt the Minister and the Department will revert to him.

In terms of how the Senator framed the question in terms of a plan for replacement of older water infrastructure in rural areas, at the outset I should advise that the Water Services Act 2007 sets out the arrangements in place for the delivery of water and wastewater services by Uisce Éireann. These services are a matter for Uisce Éireann, which has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. The progress of individual projects are matters for Uisce Éireann and approved through its own board and internal governance structures. The Minister has no functional relation to operational matters.

Uisce Éireann supports the Department of Rural and Community Development to deliver specific actions under the Our Rural Future policy. Its key action within Our Rural Future is to invest in infrastructure, including water and wastewater infrastructure, to support the development of rural towns and villages. The small towns and villages growth programme was established in direct response to requirements for rural support under the national planning framework and is one of a number of capital programmes under Uisce Éireann’s overall capital investment plan. This is a national programme to cater for growth in smaller towns and villages where Uisce Éireann has existing infrastructure in place. Local authorities support the programme by identifying communities in need of investment. To date, 39 projects have been confirmed to be delivered through the programme nationally and an additional 11 projects in towns and villages will also be delivered through alternative Uisce Éireann programmes.

The EPA maintains a priority action list, PAL, for areas where it deems wastewater treatment improvements are needed and a remedial action list, RAL, where it deems public water supplies are in need of corrective action. Under its programme to eliminate raw sewage discharges, up to 23 December 2023, Uisce Éireann built new wastewater infrastructure for 31 towns and villages where none existed before, ending the unacceptable discharge of raw sewage into the environment. Uisce Éireann is progressing plans to deal with both lists, reporting regularly to the EPA on progress. Uisce Éireann has ramped up capital delivery for water services and infrastructure, from €300 million in 2014 to roughly €1.3 billion in 2024. The Uisce Éireann strategic funding plan for 2025 to 2029 sets out Uisce Éireann's multiannual strategic investment of €16.9 billion to 2029, which represents an unprecedented level of funding in our water infrastructure. Our water and wastewater infrastructure, however, requires substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles to bring the system up to the standard required of a modern service to provide for population growth and to build resilience in the face of climate change.