I wish to thank the Chair, on behalf of myself and the consumers, both domestic and industrial, of the inadequate water supply for allowing me to raise this matter. I am grateful also on behalf of the 400 employees of General Instrument and the 400 who will be employed there if the Minister gives a favourable response.
It is with increasing frustration and anger that I raise this matter, because I raised it on numerous occasions both on the Adjournment and at Question Time with no generous response from the Government. The issue has been the subject of two deputations from the local urban district council to two former Ministers of State at the Department of the Environment, Deputies Connolly and Dan Wallace. Unfortunately, nothing concrete emerged to solve the problem and all we heard were pious platitudes. The latest twist has been a point-blank refusal by the Minister to meet any deputation from the urban district council despite numerous requests from that authority.
It is important to place the history of this problem on the record. In the mid-1980s the Department of the Environment initiated contacts with Macroom about its inadequate water supply. All the preliminary studies, research, etc. have been completed and we are awaiting the Minister's agreement to proceed. It has been with his Department for five years and during that time domestic consumers, potential investors and the industry referred to have been suffering because of the Minister's inaction. Almost 800 jobs are threatened in Macroom because of the failure of the Department of the Environment to give immediate sanction to a new town water supply scheme.
The announcement in early December by the General Instrument plant that it proposed a major expansion, bringing the numbers employed in the factory to 770, was broadly welcomed. The credit for this was taken by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Deputy Walsh, and the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Deputy Quinn, who were in the town on the day of the announcement. Neither of them is to be seen now when the company concerned is facing almost insurmountable obstacles in its efforts to proceed with this project.
An essential ingredient for the company is a quality water supply. The company currently consumes 70,000 gallons a day and will require 300,000 gallons a day to facilitate the proposed expansion. The plant already suffers because of deficiencies in the quality and quantity of supply and the proposed extension cannot proceed unless the Minister can guarantee 300,000 gallons of quality water a day. This is why the company needs immediate confirmation that the scheme will proceed. If it does not get that, the expansion cannot advance.
To date the Department's response has been nothing short of disgraceful. In reply to a parliamentary question by me on 2 February last the Minister stated: "The financing of this scheme, a large part of whose capacity would relate to the increased requirements of an individual industry, is being examined at present by Cork County Council in conjunction with the industry concerned". This is nothing short of official blackmail of an industry that plans to invest significantly and create 400 jobs in Macroom. There was no mention of these negotiations during the Adjournment debate on 12 October 1993. Now, because an industrialist has made a major investment in the town, we think we can put the gun to their head and extract £1.5 million towards the cost of a £5 million scheme.
I would like to put on the record some correspondence I received from the industry concerned. In a letter addressed to me and dated 14 February last, the vice-president and general manager of the company, Mr. Tom Ripp, stated:
The water issue in Macroom is a serious matter for General Instrument. Failure to identify an adequate water supply to support our future growth could lead to the abandonment of our expansion programme . . . We cannot afford to support the water scheme while meeting the needs of our expansion programme.
In correspondence today, Mr. Ripp said:
The critical item for General Instrument would be the timing for implementation of this upgrade. We are of the understanding that unless work commences immediately on this project an increased water supply would not be available to meet our demand.
I must tell you that General Instrument finds it very disturbing that they are being asked to contribute towards the cost of Macroom's water scheme as this project has been under consideration for many years. One has to question the overall commitment that is being made to support the growth of industry in this area.
He went on to say:
As we discussed during our meeting major problems such as this one are often enough to force reconsideration of any decision.
This scheme does not have to be modified or require increased capacity, but its plans have rested in the Minister's Department for the past five years. For some unknown reason there is an unwillingness by the Minister — and the same applied to his predecessors — to grant any favours to a town which desperately needs investment to safeguard 400 jobs.
