Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which he has received submissions from the local authorities in County Kildare in respect of their prioritised requirements in respect of group water schemes, group sewerage schemes or other such small schemes; the degree to which any such plans have been awaiting approval in the past 10 to 15 years such as the proposed scheme at Ballyna; if costings have been submitted to him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39323/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Responsibility for the administration of the Rural Water Programme, which includes group water schemes, group sewerage schemes and small public water and sewerage schemes, has been devolved to local authorities since 1997. The selection, approval and prioritisation of individual schemes for advancement and funding under the programme, within the overall priorities set by my Department and subject to the block grant allocations provided, is therefore a matter for the water services authorities, including Kildare County Council.

The block grant allocations provided by my Department to the water services authorities are based, in the first instance, on the requests for funding received from the water services authorities at the beginning of each year. There may also be some additional allocations, or variations to existing allocations, during the course of the year based on responses from the authorities to any reviews of expenditure which may be carried out.

The Water Services Investment Programme 2010 – 2013 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 programme aims to prioritise projects that target environmental compliance issues and support economic and employment growth. 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.

Progress under the Water Services Investment Programme 2010 – 2013 was reviewed in mid-2011 and through this process consideration was given to any newly emerging priority contracts and schemes submitted by local authorities for addition to the Programme. In response to the review process a proposal was received from Kildare County Council seeking to include a new scheme in the Programme that might facilitate Ballyna. As there was no significant change in this scheme from the one submitted at the time of the Assessment of Needs, it was not among the strategically important schemes inserted into the Programme.