It has been a very long day for everybody and, in particular, for the staff, and I offer my apologies for keeping the staff, but this is a very important matter to the people of north County Dublin and, in particular, to the Dublin County Council. I want now to quote the question as it appeared on the Order Paper:
To ask the Minister for Local Government if he will make funds available to allow Dublin County Council to proceed with the following schemes which have had to be deferred because of the reduction made by his Department in the Estimate prepared by the county council engineers: north Dublin water supply infill scheme, cottage sewerage programme, Blanchardstown water supply—stage 2, Baskin cottages sewerage, Garristown sewerage, Ballyboughal sewerage, Swords treatment works and Donabate sewerage.
The Minister, in his reply and in his replies to subsequent supplementaries I asked, placed great emphasis on the money he was giving this year to Dublin County Council but, in my opinion, he did not give an adequate answer to the problems which have been raised for the county council and the people of north County Dublin by the failure to grant the moneys needed to carry on the programme of extending sewerage and water schemes adumbrated by the county council this year. Just how bad the situation is can be seen in the report of the 4th July prepared by the Assistant City and County Manager and circulated to all the members of the county council. I quote:
A report was submitted to the meeting of the County Council of the 9th of June on the capital allocation of £2,776,000 for major water and sewerage schemes. The Department indicated that a further sum of £224,000 would be available to meet the cost of schemes urgently needed for housing and that the allocation for small schemes was £31,000, making a total sum available for the current year of £3,031,000. This sum will not be sufficient to meet our commitments in the existing year and, we emphasise, commitments carried over from last year due to variations in prices arising from inflation and due to increases in costs in the completion of schemes and the necessary provision which has to be made to cover schemes essential for the housing programme. To cover the essential requirements a minimum of £4.6 million would be needed. Even this constricted expenditure has made it necessary to discontinue certain direct labour schemes and to defer the start of a number of schemes which had already gone to tender or are ready to go to tender.
The north Dublin schemes which I have listed, the north Dublin water supply infill scheme, was a direct labour scheme for the council employees, and had to be discontinued. The county council cottage sewerage programme had to be discontinued. The Blanchardstown water supply scheme had to be discontinued. These were all direct labour schemes. The Baskin sewerage scheme had to be discontinued. In the case of the Garristown sewerage scheme the signing of the contract had to be deferred. In the Ballyboughal sewerage scheme the signing of the contract had to be deferred; in the case of the Swords treatment works, the signing of the contract was deferred; in the case of the Donabate sewerage scheme, tenders for the pump plant and treatment works plans which were with consultants and an advertisement for the tenders for the civil works had to be deferred. These matters were brought to the notice of the Department of Local Government and the position is being examined.
When I read a list of schemes like that to the House the impact of it might be lost on the record but we are talking about employment, first of all, because a number of the works were direct labour schemes; we are talking about the provision of necessary amenities and facilities which have been promised over a number of years. I agree that many of these schemes should have been carried out prior to this. When these schemes were at last put in hand the people could see some progress being made but now they have come to a standstill. The infill scheme, which was a secondary stage of the north Dublin regional water supply scheme to bring supplies to various side roads around County Dublin in Garristown, Ballyboughal, The Naul, had commenced. The sewerage scheme for the cottages around North County Dublin would have provided facilities for about 1,300 houses. This was to have been a five year programme and in the first year a number of projects were to be undertaken to provide sewerage facilities for 232 houses. Of these 232 houses, 199 were council houses built out in the country areas some years ago.
The Blanchardstown water supply was to consist of a six-inch main for the new town. Blanchardstown is expanding very rapidly and we are very happy about this. We hope it will develop into a thriving residential area. The provision of the water main has been held up.
The Baskin scheme was to provide sewerage facilities for cottages in the Baskin and Cloghran areas. The council spent £44,000 on this job and the balance of £14,000, which was needed for the civil works which would have completed the scheme, was not provided. The pipes are laid in the gardens but they stop there. No progress can be made this year because of the decision of the Department.
The position is serious in Garristown and Ballyboughal. Tenders were accepted and approved by the Department of Local Government. That for Garristown was for £89,600 and for Ballyboughal it was £84,900. But the county council had to tell the contractors that contracts could not be signed because the Department were unable to supply the necessary finance.
The Swords treatment works scheme is in a similar situation. Surely there must be some liaison between the section of the Department which approves schemes and the section of the Department which provides the money. But, as I said before, in the case of the Garristown sewerage scheme the signing of the contract had to be deferred. The same applies to the Ballyboughal scheme. The Swords treatment works scheme is absolutely essential. Much lip service is given to the problem of pollution. We have a major problem in the pollution of the Broadmeadow estuary. The council were working on a scheme there but the work had to be deferred because of the cutback by the Department of Local Government. This is just not good enough, and I am hoping that as a result of this highlighting of the situation the Minister will reconsider all of these schemes and will provide the necessary money.
Another work that has been postponed is the Donabate sewerage scheme. This would have provided sewerage facilities for the whole Donabate peninsula. These facilities were promised to the people over many years, but further work on the scheme has had to be deferred.
Work on all these schemes would give badly needed employment to many men in the area. Additional employment would be created in the industries supplying the necessary materials. There is a factory for supplying pipes in the Balbriggan area. There is vast scope for additional employment. County council workers would be directly employed. Extra benefits would accrue to the whole community and a number of people could be taken off the dole queue. The Minister was engaging in one of his favourite ploys in his answers today when he quoted statistics of the extra money being given to Dublin County Council. I am not querying the amounts that are being given but I want an assurance from the Minister that the schemes that have been held up will be allowed to proceed and that the people of north County Dublin will get the facilities to which they are entitled and that the Dublin County Council can honour commitments undertaken when they sought tenders from contractors. The council found themselves in an appalling position when they were unable to proceed with all of these schemes.
I could continue longer, but out of consideration for the staff I shall leave the matter there. I consider the point has been made strongly enough. While I fully realise how scarce money really is I appeal to the Minister to reconsider the whole situation in regard to the schemes which I mentioned in my Question today.
