Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to construct basic sewerage infrastructure in unsewered areas of population density. [54256/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The overall strategy of investment in water services is to ensure that the timing and scale of investment facilitates economic and other development, achieves compliance with statutory requirements and promotes environmental sustainability objectives. The main vehicle for achieving these objectives for public wastewater infrastructure is the multi-annual Water Services Investment Programme.

The current Programme, which runs to the end of 2013, provides for the commencement of contracts with a value of over €1 billion in relation to wastewater infrastructure. This includes contracts to ensure compliance with the both the Water Framework and Urban Wastewater Treatment Directives, and to meet forecasted increases in demand. The Programme also provides for the advancement of a further range of schemes through planning, for progression to construction in future investment cycles. In the period, 2000 to 2011 (inclusive), over €5.5 billion has been invested in the water services sector; this led, inter alia,to an increase in wastewater treatment capacity to a level equivalent to the needs of a population of over 3.9 million.

Funding is also available under my Department’s Rural Water Programme towards works on small public wastewater schemes and group sewerage schemes.  Responsibility for the administration of this Programme has been devolved to local authorities since 1997. The selection and approval 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.

In order to create efficiencies, improve service delivery and achieve cost savings in the delivery of water services, the Programme for Government provides for the establishment of a new State-owned national water authority to take over responsibility for managing and supervising investment in water services infrastructure. An implementation strategy for the establishment of Irish Water has been finalised. This strategy takes account of the need to ensure that this critical public service is delivered efficiently during the transition, that there is no loss of momentum in the delivery of key projects and that a sustainable funding model is put in place to support increased investment in the sector.