Vol. 525 No. 3
295 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will set a date whereby untreated raw sewage emanating from local authority facilities will no longer be discharged into inland waterways. [24964/00]
The national development plan provides for capital expenditure of some £3 billion on water and waste water infrastructure in the period 2000-06, the major portion of which will be devoted to waste water treatment facilities. This is three times the investment for these services over the 1994-99 period. In July of this year, I published the first water services investment programme under the new national development plan containing schemes with a value of £2.1 billion which sets out in detail the areas and projects that will benefit between 2000 and 2002. This is the first phase of a rolling three year programme that will run up to the conclusion of the NDP in 2006. Additional schemes will be added to the programme each year in the meantime.
Funding for urban waste water infrastructure under the water services investment programme is focused on meeting the requirements of the urban waste water treatment directive. This requires treatment of all waste water discharges from systems with a population equivalent of over 2000 by the end of 2005. One hundred and fifty five urban agglomerations have been identified by the EPA as requiring secondary treatment of waste water by the end of 2005 under the terms of the directive. The majority already are, or soon will be, in compliance. Priority is being given to advancing and completing work in respect of discharges from major urban centres, where an earlier deadline of 31 December 2000 applies; £728 million is being provided under the water services investment programme to complete the 24 schemes required by the end-2000 deadline. A further £421 million is being provided to complete the 62 schemes needed by 2005.
Priority is also being given to the nine towns discharging to inland waters designated as sensitive to pollution in accordance with the directive, and required to have more stringent than secondary treatment. Nutrient reduction facilities are already in place in eight of these and construction is under way in the remaining case.
Since 1997 my Department has been promoting a catchment-based national strategy on water quality to address all inputs of phosphorus from all sources. Major projects are well under way in relation to Loughs Ree, Derg and Leane and the Rivers Boyne, Liffey and Suir. These projects are beginning to show positive results in certain areas, for example, Lough Derg has been reclassified as "moderately eutrophic" compared to an earlier classification of "strongly eutrophic". Recent monitoring data indicate that the improvement is continuing. The Department is now promoting the establishment by local authorities of river basin management projects to address all inland and coastal waters, including ground waters, and all sources of pollution and other impacts of human activities on water quality and quantity. Financial support at a rate of up to 85% will be available for expenditure incurred by local authorities in this area.
296 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department has carried out any assessment in relation to the wastage of water both by domestic and commercial users; the proposals he has to deal with this; if his Department has carried out any assessment in relation to the age of the water pipe network across the country, in the context of leaks; and if there is a remedial programme in this regard. [24966/00]
My Department has not carried out any specific examination of water usage by individual consumers. Studies have, however, been completed in Dublin and nationally to assist in identifying remedial measures necessary to reduce levels of leakage within public distribution systems, including rehabilitation of defective pipework. Arising from these studies major water conservation programmes, including extensive network rehabilitation, in Dublin and locations such as Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick, Athlone and Clonmel are now being funded as part of my Department's water services investment programme. In the Dublin region the investment has resulted in a reduction in leakage from 42.5% to 28.7%.
I will shortly announce significant additional funding for similar schemes in the areas identified by the studies as requiring remedial action.
