James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 199: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason the new Legan and Kenagh Water Schemes have not been provided despite a two year wait and the fact that 200 houses have no sewerage facilities due to overload of the existing schemes and that raw sewerage is flowing into the River Inny which supplies domestic water for the whole of the south Longford area, threatening a Galway like health risk; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21348/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Legan and Kenagh areas are to be serviced by the Ballymahon Regional Water Supply Improvement Scheme which is included in my Department's recently published Water Services Investment Programme 2007-2009 as a scheme to begin construction next year. My Department is currently examining Longford County Council's Design Review Report for the scheme. The Council will be in a position to prepare Contract Documents once the Design Review has been approved.

The Legan and Kenagh Sewerage Scheme was fourth on the list of water and sewerage schemes submitted by Longford County Council in response to my Department's request to all local authorities in 2006 to undertake assessments of needs for capital works in their areas and to prioritise their proposals on the basis of these assessments. The priority lists were taken into account in framing the Water Services Investment Programme 2007-2009. Given the level of competing demand for the available funding, and the priorities identified for Longford, I regret that it has not been possible to include the scheme in the current Programme.