Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghlacadh leis an Aire as ucht teacht isteach anseo trathnóna agus éisteacht leis an méid atá á rá agam.
The Lakeshore group water scheme in Oughterard was initiated in 1990. It has 101 members, of whom 89 are householders and 31 are farmers. The area involved is outside Oughterard along the Glann Road by the lake shore. In this area most people are either dependent on private wells or are using water directly from Lough Corrib. However, in an area which is one of our premier tourist areas, neither of these solutions is satisfactory as many of the wells dry up in the summer and there are difficulties regarding the quality of the lake water.
I can testify to the unsatisfactory nature of a well for a regular water supply. It is a particular problem for anyone involved in the tourism industry. Lack of water supply is probably the worst problem faced by people in tourism.
The Oughterard town supply was upgraded in the 1980s. The plan is to tap off that main supply and provide a piped system along the Glann Road and into Baurnagorteeney. The system has been approved, by Galway County Council and I understand the design has been approved by the Department of the Environment.
As in other group water schemes, the unit cost of this scheme is rather high. It is fair to say this is a feature of the areas not yet provided with running water through mains pipes. Working in Connemara in difficult ground where rock is never far from the surface, adds to the cost. I accept this is a perennial problem with schemes in the Connemara area. However, development of tourism in this area and the right of the people to have a reasonable standard of services warrants the provision of piped water.
The specification for the main pipe was increased by the county council because of a proposal in this scheme to connect the Oughterard town supply to an existing group water scheme in Glann. This latter scheme serves 35 households and 22 farms. I understand Telecom Éireann is about to embark on laying pipes in the area and has indicated its interest in sharing costs by laying cables along the trench dug for the water scheme. In such a scenic rural area, the provision of underground cable would be highly commended.
I have rarely heard complaints from people living in rural areas about the cost of providing water. People living in urban areas often complain about having to pay £45 per year but they never have to pay for head work costs or basic installation costs. The people in this area are willing to pay £600 per head for this scheme. They realise that in ten years time they will have to pay 80 per cent of the council rates in addition to the maintenance of their own scheme. In our case that would amount to £80 per year for the provision of water from the head works and they would then be required to maintain their own scheme.
Rural people are good at self help and I ask the Minister to favourably consider sanctioning the scheme notwithstanding the high cost per house. I would point out to him also that people in 41 houses on the route of this scheme, which is four and a half miles long, will probably join the scheme if it is put in place but they have not yet given a commitment.
