Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 371: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, further to Parliamentary Question No. 175 of 25 February 2010, the reason a project (details supplied) in County Clare is not included in the Water Services Investment Programme 2010 - 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21949/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Water Services Investment Programme 2010 – 2012, a copy of which is available in the Oireachtas Library, provides for the development of a comprehensive range of new water services infrastructure in County Clare. While the Programme includes contracts under construction and to commence to the value of some €38 million in the county during the period of the Programme, it was not possible to include the Broadford Sewerage 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 Renewal. A key input to the development of the Programme was the assessment of needs prepared by local authorities, including Clare 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.