Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 529: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if, in view of the urgent need to meet the needs of Arklow, he will provide investment out of Exchequer resources to build the long-delayed sewage treatment plant at Arklow, County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3843/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Arklow main drainage scheme has been approved for funding in my Department's Water Services Investment Programme 2004-2006 as a scheme to start construction this year at an estimated cost of €15.6 million.

This scheme has been the subject of detailed public, technical and legal scrutiny that has extended over many years, together with third party appeals to An Bord Pleanála, the most recent of which was determined last month. An Bord Pleanála's decision of 21 January 2005 to uphold Wicklow County Council's grant of planning permission for the proposal has cleared the way for the scheme to be advanced to construction stage. The council has, accordingly, now placed the contract for site investigation along the route of the sewer network and has also invited expressions of interest from suitable contractors wishing to tender for the construction of the wastewater treatment plant. An Bord Pleanála's recent decision prescribes exacting standards for the construction and subsequent management of the proposed wastewater treatment plant. The plant will be professionally operated on the council's behalf under a formal contract that will incorporate severe financial penalties for any operational failures by the contractor. I have made it clear in a number of public statements that the interests of the Arklow community are best served at this stage by moving ahead as quickly as possible with the scheme approved by An Bord Pleanála and eliminating the present untreated wastewater discharges that are adversely affecting the local environment and restricting the economic growth and development of the town.