Vol. 487 No. 1
116 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the cost and the population equivalent intended to be catered for by the newly upgraded sewage treatment facility at Enniscrone, County Sligo; and the further proposals, if any, with his Department regarding future upgrading of this facility. [3643/98]
This scheme, which caters for a population equivalent of 3,000 is estimated to cost £355,000. There are no further proposals with my Department regarding further upgrading of this facility.
117 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the date on which his Department was approached by Sligo Corporation or Sligo County Council regarding a site for a new Sligo town sewage treatment works; the nature and dates of all subsequent correspondence in the matter; and the response of his Department. [3644/98]
The selection and purchase of a site for a public sewage treatment plant is primarily a matter for the local authority for whom the plant is to be built. Designation of a site is included as an integral part of the preliminary report, which is prepared by the local authority or its consultants for the particular scheme and is then submitted to my Department for approval. However, where an environmental impact assessment is required, as in the case of the Sligo main drainage scheme, an environmental impact statement has to be certified by the appropriate body or bodies before approval is given by my Department to the preliminary report. Sligo Corporation submitted a preliminary report for the Sligo main drainage scheme on 17 November 1993. Following consideration of the report, the corporation were asked, inter alia, to re-examine the proposed site. As a result, the local authority confirmed on 29 July 1994 that they proposed to seek approval to an alternative site, namely, the site which had been identified in the 1992-97 Borough Development Plan as the site for a new sewage treatment plant. However, the local authority then advised my Department on 28 November 1997 that they are unable to procure that alternative site and have identified another alternative site. I now understand that the corporation expects to publish this month an environmental impact statement based on the latest alternative site.
