Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 798: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the necessary funding will be allocated to Kildare County Council to enable a group water scheme (details supplied) to proceed in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15766/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Water Services Investment Programme 2010 – 2012 which I published yesterday, provides for the development of a comprehensive range of new water services infrastructure in County Kildare. While provision is made to commence contracts to the value of some €160 million in the county during the period of the programme, it was not possible to include the Ballyna Regional Water Supply Scheme amongst the priority contracts and schemes selected for inclusion.

The new programme aims to prioritise projects that target environmental compliance issues and support economic and employment growth as envisaged in the Government's policy document Building Ireland's Smart Economy – A Framework for Sustainable Economic Revival. A key input to the development of the programme was the assessment of needs prepared by local authorities, including Kildare County Council, in response to my Department's request to the authorities in 2009 to review and prioritise their proposals for new capital works in their areas. These were subsequently appraised by my Department in the context of the funds available and key criteria that complemented those used by the authorities. Inevitably, through this process, certain projects that had been proposed had to give way to others that are more strategically important at this time.