Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is most welcome to Seanad Éireann on what is a very busy day for her and all other Ministers. We appreciate her time.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I appreciate that this is a busy day in the Department of Finance. I particularly appreciate the Minister of State coming to the House to take this matter.

The Minister of State will recall that in June and July of this year, we dealt with the issue of a boil water notice in Ferns, County Wexford, which impacted more than 1,700 people. I want to put on the record my thanks to her for raising a number of the issues with Uisce Éireann, even though the responsibility does not fall to her Department, to ensure that the people of Ferns have access to adequate drinking water. That issue pointed to our creaking water infrastructure. The issue I raise today relates to the importance of the wastewater treatment system in the country and the concern for Ferns and its neighbouring community of Camolin. Those areas cannot expand because of the lack of wastewater capacity. Wexford County Council has indicated that the development of a wastewater treatment plant at Ferns is a priority. The intention is to be able to pump some of the wastewater from Camolin to Ferns to allow those communities to grow. Uisce Éireann told us approximately a year ago that it would be at least five years before the issue is addressed. One of the problems is that we in the north Wexford community have been hearing for more than 20 years about how the issues in Ferns and Camolin will be addressed. The late Independent councillor, Mr. Declan MacPartlin, championed the issue in the 2000s. He was told it would be a part of a village bundle.

The challenge for us in the Gorey local electoral area is that in the inter-census period of 2016 to 2022, there was a 14% increase in population. That was one of the highest rates of increase of any local electoral area in the country and has obviously put enormous pressure on Gorey town, which has capacity. It has stymied development in many of the nearby villages simply because they do not have the necessary water capacity. In Uisce Éireann's own list of wastewater treatment plants, those indicated in red around the Gorey area have no further available capacity. Those areas include Ballycanew, Camolin, Coolgreany, Ballymoney, Boolavogue, Killinierin and Monamolin. All of those are villages within the community. At the same time, we have restrictions on the numbers of rural dwellings that are allowed to be constructed. If we are not going to allow people to build in country areas, we must encourage them to live in their nearby villages. However, if we do not have the necessary wastewater capacity, that cannot happen. It is forcing people into our towns and other major urban areas. Ferns and Camolin have been crying out for this to be addressed for more than 20 years but it is not being prioritised by Uisce Éireann.This Government's top priority, as the Deputy is aware, is addressing housing and we have made significant progress. I hope in the budget today, as part of the surplus, that we will see significant investment in Uisce Éireann to address the deficits in our water infrastructure but, in particular, I hope we see investment in those villages to allow them to expand and to build houses that we all need, particularly in our rural communities. The wastewater treatment plant issue needs to be addressed. In the same way that the Minister of State has been very helpful in the past on a number of issues, I hope we can apply pressure to Uisce Éireann again to address the problem of the wastewater treatment plant serving Ferns and Camolin.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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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.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for outlining the process. I have learned from responses that when I hear from a State agency something is a priority, that tends to mean some time in the next five years. If I am told it is an urgent priority, it might be within two years and an imminent priority is sometime within 12 months. I appreciate and understand the processes as the Minister of State has outlined, but if we are to achieve our objective of delivering houses for people within communities near where they want to live, we have to ensure the water and wastewater infrastructure is in place.

I hope we will see a significant announcement of investment in Uisce Éireann as part of the budget today but it is important it spends that money efficiently and effectively and we see a resolution for communities like those I mentioned. I passionately believe people should be able to live in the villages and communities where they have grown up and where they work, but if we do not supply the water and wastewater infrastructure that will not be possible.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I could not agree with the Senator more and I am told the Department has secured record overall funding of €1.81 billion for the delivery of water services in 2024.As the Senator said, it has to actually happen, be delivered and done efficiently. I am also told Uisce Éireann has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives, though this note does not state when that was established and I do not recall. The team can be contacted via email or a dedicated number which I will provide to the Senator, although I suspect he already knows it. It is interesting that I have dealt with this issue with the Senator on at least two occasions, yet it has not been resolved.