asked the Minister for the Environment when the loan application by Louth County Council in respect of Tullyallen sewerage scheme will be approved.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Water and Sewerage Schemes.
1.
Louth County Council's application for a loan to finance this scheme was received in my Department on 2 February 1983 and a decision thereon will be conveyed to the council as soon as possible.
Is the Minister aware that this scheme is of vital importance because until it gets under way it will not be possible to provide much needed houses in Tullyallen?
I am so aware, but the Deputy will appreciate that we only received the application on 2 February. I assure him we will look at it with all haste and urgency.
Is it not true that the contract documents were passed by the Minister's predecessor — the papers in respect of part of this scheme — and will he ensure that there will not be delays in the provision of funds, because that is what we are looking for?
There will not be any undue delay.
2.
andMr. Faulkner asked the Minister for the Environment when the contract documents for Ardee sewerage scheme, County Louth, will be approved.
The approval of this scheme must be considered in the context of the overall capital resources available to finance sanitary services and the need to provide adequate finance for schemes in progress or getting to construction including Cooley regional water scheme and Tullyallen sewerage scheme. I cannot at present say when I will be in a position to convey a decision to Louth County Council on the contract documents for the Ardee sewerage scheme.
Is the Minister aware of the importance of this scheme, which includes treatment works? This scheme should be put in hands at once because on its completion it will be possible to get ahead with the Dunleer regional scheme, the source for which is the Dee, and the Dunleer regional scheme will then supply Clogherhead, Termonfeckin, Baltray and the area between the coast and the Meath border side of the Dee. In these circumstances and considering what I have said about the vital importance of this, will the Minister make every effort to make finance available to proceed with the scheme? As I have pointed out, it is not just the scheme itself that is so important but the results that will accrue from it.
I am aware of the implications which the scheme has and I assure the Deputy that as soon as I am in a position to make an assessment of all these schemes, a decision will be made.
The water supply in Clogherhead is of very poor quality — on many occasions throughout the year it is undrinkable — and this being a tourist resort would the Minister do all he can to remedy the situation?
I will.
3.
asked the Minister for the Environment if he proposes to include in the small water and sewerage scheme allocations for 1983 the two booster installations for the water supply in the Finglas / Ballymun / Poppintree area, Dublin.
The water supply pumping installations referred to by the Deputy are included in the proposed small water and sewerage programme for 1983 submitted by Dublin Corporation. The corporation will be advised of their small schemes capital allocation early in March and it will then be a matter for the corporation to decide on the schemes to be carried out within the relevant allocation.
4.
asked the Minister for the Environment the amount of money being allocated to Kerry County Council this year for water and sewerage schemes.
The returns of capital requirements from the 87 sanitary authorities are at present being examined in my Department. I hope to notify authorities of their allocations in early March. At present it is not possible to say what the allocation to Kerry County Council will be.
5.
asked the Minister for the Environment when a water supply will be provided for Inishboffin Island, County Donegal.
I understand that Donegal County Council intend to bring a piped water supply from the mainland to Inishboffin Island by early April 1983. The council will finance the capital cost incolved from an island water supply allocation of £18,000 made to the local authority in 1981 under the small schemes programme. The council have been asked to investigate the possibility of encouraging the formation of a group scheme to distribute water to houses on the island.
6.
asked the Minister for the Environment the up-to-date position on Ballinroad sewerage scheme, Dungarvan, County Waterford.
The preliminary proposals submitted by Waterford County Council for this scheme were approved in February 1981. The further planning of this scheme is a matter for the local authority.
7.
asked the Minister for the Environment the present position regarding the Moycullen group water scheme, County Galway; and when it will commence.
There is no record in my Department of a group water scheme at Moycullen, County Galway. However, there is a scheme proposed to serve 21 houses at Carramore-Knock, in the vicinity of Moycullen. The present position is that Galway County Council on 10 February 1983 submitted the results of quality tests carried out on Lough Corrib, which the group propose to use as a source. The implications of the results for the treatment of the water are under consideration by the county council and the outcome of that consideration is awaited by my Department.
8.
asked the Minister for the Environment if he will approve as soon as possible the Mount Talbot regional water scheme, County Roscommon; if he will give details of the overall cost of the scheme; the local contribution; and when work will commence.
Roscommon County Council propose to provide a headworks at Mount Talbot Springs which will be a source for the proposed Four Roads group water scheme and augment the regional water scheme for Athleague, Knockcroghery and south Roscommon. The council submitted contract documents for the headworks on 17 November 1982 and these are under examination in my Department. It has been indicated to the council that the question of approving the contract documents cannot be considered until the council submit a formal certificate of completion of planning confirming that all the legal formalities, including acquisition of any necessary sites and the resolution of any outstanding compensation issues, have been completed.
It would not be appropriate for me to disclose the estimated cost of the proposed headworks as this could prejudice tender prices when tenders are being sought for the project in due course. The Four Roads group water scheme have nominated a contractor. Provisional estimates suggest that the group scheme will cost a total of about £400,000 and involve an average local contribution of £500 per group member after allowance is made for grants payable by my Department. I cannot, at this stage, say when work on the group scheme will commence as this is dependent on the approval and commencement of the headworks.
Does the Minister know the background to this scheme? It stretches back for some years. It is the best source of water and will provide a million gallons a day. The Department were very much involved in bringing the group scheme into a regional scheme. In the circumstances, and as we do not have Labour Party representation in County Roscommon — I represent that vote — would he bear all these things in mind and sanction the scheme for the betterment of the county?
In view of the Deputy's willingness to cross the floor I assure him I will give it full consideration.
The crossing of the floor was by the Minister's supporters who crossed over to Fianna Fáil. That is the other way around.