Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 49: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the co-ordination, support or extra funding that will be provided by his Department to local authorities suffering from water shortages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2476/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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General-purpose grants from the Local Government Fund are the contribution that my Department makes to local authorities to meet the gap between the cost to them of providing a reasonable level of day-to-day services and the income they obtain from other sources. A total of €870 million in General-Purpose Grants will be provided to local authorities from the Local Government Fund in 2010.

It is a matter for each local authority to prioritise its spending, within the resources available to it, across the range of services it provides. Equally, local authorities must ensure full value for money for the resources invested, and seek the maximum efficiency across their operations. I am satisfied that the general purpose grant allocations I have provided for 2010, together with the income available from other sources, will enable local authorities to deal with the adverse winter weather conditions and continue to provide an acceptable level of service to their customers.

In the last ten years a total of €1.8 billion has been invested by the Exchequer in providing new supply water infrastructure under the water services investment programme.

Recent water services investment programmes have also included a specific sub-programme on water conservation. Funding was provided to local authorities to put water management systems in place to monitor water use and losses throughout the supply networks, fix leaks and replace defective pipes where repair is no longer an economic option. Exchequer spending on water conservation since 2003 amounted to €130 million.

This investment provides the platform for intensive investment in mains rehabilitation which will be a key priority under the next water services investment programme for 2010 to 2012 which is currently being finalised in my Department. In inviting local authorities to prepare needs assessments as an input to developing the new programme, the authorities were asked to prioritise key contracts and schemes in this area; and they will also be required to prioritise water conservation works as an alternative to new infrastructure provision. A greater proportion of the funds available annually under the programme will be assigned specifically to water conservation works.