I thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for selecting this matter for the Adjournment. This is an important issue for Westport and the surrounding areas. Westport is the fastest growing town in the west. The last two censuses revealed that Galway city and Westport were the only two areas where there had been an increase in population. Westport is a major tourist attraction centre and work will be completed in the next few weeks on a further three swimming pools in the town. Three hotels there have been upgraded to international standard. Thousands of visitors come to stay in Westport every summer, but it is disappointing to see raw sewage flowing into Clew Bay.
When my party was in Government there was a water problem and a sewerage problem in the town. I was able to put pressure on the then Minister for the Environment and the Taoiseach to resolve the water problem by securing the allocation of £2.25 million for the necessary work. Before my party left office the proposed sewerage scheme was almost up and running but I was disappointed that Westport was not included in the list of water schemes and sewerage schemes recently announced.
I was annoyed with the response I got to a question I tabled to the Minister last week. He said he could not identify where he could get the funding for this scheme. Why is funding for this scheme not allocated from the Cohesion Funds? Will all those funds be allocated to schemes in Dublin and other areas along the east coast, as happened in the past few years?
Westport has a mix of industry and tourism. It faces the problem faced by every other town in that it does not have serviced land on which to build houses. Without a sewerage scheme, the development of Westport will come to a standstill. I appeal to the Minister, the Department and the Government to put the contract for this scheme out to tender. That will ensure that, while no money will be spent on that scheme this year, at least a contractor will be appointed and the necessary money will be found next year. I ask the Minister of State to put the contract for this work out to tender and that will save a year in terms of the completion of work on this scheme.
There is outrage about the lack of a sewerage scheme in Westport. The chamber of commerce, the urban district council, other interested groups and members of the public are calling for this scheme. There are forthcoming local and European elections. The Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, who has just left the Chamber, will be seeking votes in Westport in the European elections, but he will be ambushed like every Fianna Fáil Oireachtas Member and councillor. This scheme was almost up and running, but I do not know why it was taken out of the programme. I want the Minister of State to tell me the reason. I hope he will announce that the contract for this scheme will be put out to tender. Perhaps the Minister will find the money to do so in the coming weeks. With the local elections, European elections, Údarás elections and a general election perhaps taking place on 11 June, it is likely that many announcements will be made in coming weeks.