Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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180. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the progress that has been achieved regarding the issue of Irish Water refusing to take on housing developments in which the wastewater treatment system has been provided by the developer. [21804/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Funding of €68.5 million under the National Development Plan has been allocated for the period 2021-2025 for legacy water services issues in relation to lead pipe remediation and the Developer Provided Water Services Infrastructure Resolution Programme (DPI).

My Department is operating a Multi-annual DPI Programme to provide funding for the progressive resolution of housing estates with legacy developer provided water services infrastructure to enable the taking in charge of these estates.

The programme is focused on housing estates which are not taken in charge by local authorities and do not have their water services connected to the public (Irish Water) network, but rely instead on infrastructure, often temporary in nature, which was provided by developers. The focus of the first tranches of funding is on estates in towns and villages where the resolution is to connect their water services to the public networks. 

A study is being carried out by Irish Water to develop optimum solutions for estates with legacy developer provided water services infrastructure. The study will help my Department with developing policy solutions, including issues around funding, for estates that, due to distance, are not viable to connect to the public network. This is by considering sustainable treatment technologies either on the same site or another suitable alternative site. I understand the study is expected to be completed in Q2, 2022.

It will take a number of funding programmes to fully resolve estates with developer provided water services infrastructure, however, my Department is committed to progressing the taking in charge of these legacy estates through increased funding over the coming years.