Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 337: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No 185 of 8 October 2009, the position regarding a sewerage scheme (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18109/10]

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 342: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government further to a previous Parliamentary Question, the position regarding the Pallasgreen sewerage scheme, Pallasgreen, County Limerick. [18377/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 337 and 342 together.

A comprehensive range of new water services infrastructure has been approved for County Limerick in my Department's Water Services Investment Programme 2010 -2012, a copy of which is available in the Oireachtas Library. This includes provision for the commencement of contracts relating to the Dromcollogher Sewerage Scheme during the Programme period.

My Department is currently examining Limerick County Council's Preliminary Report for a bundle of four sewerage schemes, including Drumcollogher, and a decision on the Report will be conveyed to the Council as soon as possible.

The other schemes included in the bundle, Bruff, Hospital and Pallasgreen Sewerage Schemes, are not included among the contracts and schemes in County Limerick to be progressed under the new Programme. 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 Limerick 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 in the 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, as the total value of contracts and schemes proposed by local authorities exceeded the level of resources likely to be available in the period.

The scope and format of the Programme for 2010 to 2012 is designed better to reflect ongoing environmental and economic priorities, to maximise the return on public funds being invested in the sector and to ensure that the Programme is realistic in its level of ambition. The total value of contracts underway and those proposed for commencement during the period of the Programme in County Limerick is €23.1 million.