Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)
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I am glad to have the opportunity to raise the issue of the Gweedore sewerage scheme, or scéim séarachais Ghaoth Dobhair as it is commonly known. It is a scheme that should have been built many years ago but has not been to date. I recall reading archived notes dating back to the 1940s and 1950s, when the local Deputy at the time, Cormac Breslin, who was Ceann Comhairle in the Lower House, was raising the issue in the Dáil of the need for a sewerage scheme in the Gweedore parish area. There is no such scheme and even though it is a rural area, it contains the twin towns of Bunbeg and Derrybeg in which many people live. It is actually the most densely populated rural area in western Europe. Since before I became a member of Donegal County Council in 1994, the council was working on trying to progress a serwerage scheme through the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government for the parish extending from Gweedore to Glassagh. An Bord Pleanála and the Department ruled subsequently that the scheme would have to be much tighter than this and confined to the Bunbeg-Derrybeg catchment area.

I understand significant progress has been made by Donegal County Council which has submitted all or most of the required documentation to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and is awaiting approval to seek tenders for the construction of the Gweedore sewerage scheme. The urgency attached to the project cannot be over-estimated because if the septic tank legislation comes into force and inspections take place in the area of Gweedore around Bunbeg and Derrybeg, most of the septic tanks there will fail to meet the standards set down or proposed under the regulations to be published by the Minister under the wastewater legislation enacted. I fear that unless the sewerage scheme is put in place, people will face sanctions as a result. Moreover, this will be through no fault of their own because ultimately the State, in conjunction with the local authority, should provide the funding for the sewerage scheme. I hope progress is being made in the Department, which is the reason I have raised the matter on the Adjournment.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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As the Senator is aware, I am responding on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, who is in Rio de Janeiro on Government business. I thank the Senator for providing me with the opportunity to clarify the position on the development of proposals for, and the procurement of, further wastewater facilities in the Gweedore area.

The Gweedore sewerage scheme is included in the Department's water services investment programme 2010-13 as a scheme to start construction during the lifetime of the programme. The proposed scheme will comprise one or two contracts providing for a treatment plant capable of dealing with effluent from a population equivalent of 4,550 and a sewer network of approximately 21 km, serving the core areas of Dore, Bunbeg and Derrybeg, and a 5.7 km outfall. The estimated cost of this work is €11.4 million. I believe progress has been made since the late Deputy Cormac Breslin was seized of the issue.

The scheme is one element of the Department's water services investment programme 2010-13 which consists of 340 contracts to be progressed to construction during the period of the programme, with a value of €1.8 billion, as well as a further 190 schemes, on which planning is being advanced. Following a review of the programme in 2011, a further 24 contracts, with a value of €57 million, were added. In Donegal, there are 15 contracts at, or due to start, construction during the lifetime of the programme, at a total estimated value of €80 million, including major sewerage schemes in Letterkenny and Killybegs. A further 11 contracts are at planning stage.

Donegal County Council's design review report for the Gweedore scheme is with the Department, as Senator Ó Domhnaill has said. However, the Department has sought further clarification on a number of issues and will continue to liaise with council with a view to progressing the scheme as quickly as possible.

Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)
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Go raibh maith agat.