Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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Before I get into my Commencement matter, I wish to let the Minister of State know that checktheregister.ie, which is under his stewardship, is not digitally accessible to the blind and visually impaired community in Ireland, so more than 150,000 people in Ireland cannot register to vote using the website. I urge the Minister of State to look at that as a matter of urgency. It came to my attention last week when a young person who was trying to register to vote was not able to do so. I do not expect the Minister of State to reply to that, but he might just take it back to the Department.

The Commencement matter I raise today is about a scheme that has been in the pipeline for more than two years. The scheme is ministerially led within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to facilitate small communities that need wastewater sewerage schemes. One case in point in County Clare is Broadford. The village of Broadford has many people who want to invest in it, many people with money who have ideas as to what they would like to do with the village, and people who are prepared to build houses and to pay for that out of their own pockets. The problem, however, is that the system there has reached capacity and the answer they get back from Clare County Council is that it is premature pending the upgrading of the systems there.

We have a housing problem in this country. This is not the panacea that will resolve all the issues to do with housing but it would be a step in the right direction. It is all about taking steps in the right direction.

As for this scheme, there was an engagement with numerous representatives in Clare and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about a year and a half ago in the Department. He suggested this pilot scheme, and each local authority in the country, I understand, was written to and asked to nominate either one or two schemes. Clare County Council, like every other county council, submitted a scheme, and Broadford was the scheme that was submitted.

We are now three weeks away from the end of 2022. We expected that the successful schemes would be announced at this stage because the expressions of interest to the local authorities were sent out a number of months ago. I think the indication was that in September or October we would have confirmation as to what the successful schemes would be. Now we are moving into January and there has still been no announcement. The question, therefore, which is reasonable for people to ask, is when the successful applicants will be notified. Will the Minister of State give me a specific date? The people in Broadford are getting very nervous at this stage. This has been going on month after month and we do not have an announcement. This scheme will address one project or one town per county. In County Clare alone we have about 50 or 60 schemes that need upgrading.

There was a meeting in Doonbeg last night. Unfortunately, I could not make it, but it was a meeting of residents because the village water periodically stops and starts. We are talking about an area which has a huge tourist population as a result of the golf and leisure outlet there, whose name I will not mention. We are talking about 200 or 300 working there and thousands of people visiting it every year, yet the water system in the town is not fit for purpose and keeps breaking down. It is very unfair on the people living there 24-7, all year round. We really need to escalate the progression of these schemes in general. The pilot project announced by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is a start but it needs to get up and running because it will not be felt before the Government comes to an end. Will any of the schemes be done?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist sin. As for checktheregister.ie, we meet and have met with the NCBI on a number of occasions, primarily to do with accessibility around polling stations and ballot papers. I was not aware of the issue the Senator raises.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I appreciate that.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Certainly, if there is an issue we need to correct, I will talk to officials in franchise to try to correct it because there has been fantastic uptake on checktheregister.ie.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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Absolutely.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The last thing we want is to exclude anyone from the ability to register to vote.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I appreciate that.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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If anything, it is quite the opposite, so again, I thank the Senator for raising that with me.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue also. I am aware of the demand for wastewater infrastructure in villages where there is no access to public infrastructure, including Galway, Clare and other areas around the country. The Department builds its strategic water policy and infrastructure delivery programmes around the national planning framework for 2018 to 2040 and the National Development Plan 2021-2030. Investment is delivered primarily through Irish Water, while my Department operates the rural water programme directly. The national planning framework supports proportionate growth of rural towns and villages to attract people to build their own homes and to live in these areas. The programme for Government includes a specific commitment for investment in wastewater services in villages - those not currently provided for under Irish Water's small towns and villages growth programme - including commitments for regeneration of these areas.

In response, the Minister, Darragh O'Brien, announced on 28 April 2022 a funding initiative to enable progressively the development of wastewater infrastructure in villages and settlements that do not have access to such public infrastructure. This initiative, an advance phase of the multi-annual rural water programme 2022-2025, is funded under the national development plan in conjunction with an appropriate local contribution. An allocation of €50 million for the measure has been committed for the period 2021 to 2025 under the plan. The measure was open to all rural local authorities to submit, on a priority basis, up to two applications for funding by the deadline of 15 September 2022. Twenty-three applications in total were received from 13 local authorities, including two from Clare County Council, namely, Broadford and Cooraclare.

The demonstration project model - the pilot scheme, as the Senator refers to it in his Commencement matter - allows for the development of appropriate longer term strategies and protocols and better informs future funding needs for the progressive development of public wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure in villages that are currently without these services. An expert panel is in place to support the evaluation process. In addition to providing an expert perspective, the panel brings independence, openness and transparency to the bids evaluation process. The panel's membership includes departmental, stakeholder and independent representations. The Department has recently completed validation of all the applications for funding. Arising from this, the panel is carrying out a detailed evaluation of all valid applications. Based on the recommendations of the panel, a report will be submitted for consideration and approval by the Minister.

That is where my script ends. I am not sure where the timeline is in that but I will come back and try to get a specific date as to when that evaluation process will be complete.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I am not looking for a specific date but I would like to think it will be in quarter 1 of 2023. It is right to put an evaluation panel in place. That is good governance, and I welcome that. I spoke about Broadford, but Cooraclare is a key scheme as well. I would also name Carrigaholt and Doolin.No development of any significance can happen in Doolin - this has been the case for the past 15 to 20 years - simply because of the wastewater systems in the area. Some small development has taken place, but people have had to invest in systems themselves. Doolin is probably one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country because it is located next to the Cliffs of Moher. It is also the gateway to the Aran islands. Thousands of people visit Doolin each day during the summer. This scheme is welcome but it needs to be scaled-up as a matter of urgency.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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We will come back with a timeline on that. Now that the validation and the applications are being processed, as the Senator indicated, the first quarter of 2023 would be reasonable in the context of the Minister submitting them. These projects will end up with Irish Water in order to be brought into operation. This is extremely important for tourism, local economic development and local communities. It is a key commitment of the Government to ensure that we have balanced regional development and that our rural communities can thrive into the future. That has to include water and wastewater infrastructure. We will respond to the Senator with a time line and ensure that these projects are prioritised.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I welcome our guests in the Public Gallery. They are sitting down just as the House is about to suspend.