John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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382. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if funding will be made available for the upgrading of a sewerage scheme (details supplied) in County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39196/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Water Services Investment Programme 2010 – 2013, 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 Mayo. The Programme includes contracts under construction and to commence to the value of some €71 million in Co. Mayo during the period of the Programme. However, the Claremorris Sewerage Scheme was not amongst the priority contracts and schemes selected for inclusion in the current Programme.

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 Mayo County Council, in response to my Department’s request to 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 were more strategically important at that 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. No proposal for the Claremorris Sewerage Scheme was received from Mayo County Council in response to the review.