Trevor Sargent
Question:206 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the measures he has taken to stop discharge of raw sewerage to lakes, rivers and coastal waters. [7035/02]
Written Answers. - Water and Sewerage Schemes.
The position regarding untreated sewage discharges set out in the most recent Environmental Protection Agency report on urban waste water discharges in Ireland, which related to the 1998-99 period, is being rapidly overtaken by developments under my Department's water services investment programme. Some €4.4 billion has been provided in the national development plan for capital expenditure on water services in the years 2000 to 2006. A major focus of this investment is on the expansion and upgrading of waste water infrastructure to meet the requirements of the EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. A number of significant waste water schemes have already been substantially completed in locations such as Drogheda, Dundalk, Leixlip, Osberstown and Loughrea. The provision of the necessary facilities is well advanced in other locations such as Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway. The NDP provides for an investment of €1.7 billion to complete the remaining waste water schemes required under the directive.
Of the 37 agglomerations covered by the directive that were identified in the EPA report as being without waste water treatment, my Department's water services investment programme for 2000-2002, announced in July 2000, includes schemes to provide secondary treatment, or better, in 31 of those locations, representing almost 99% of the total effluent load. Schemes already completed, in progress or scheduled to start up to the end of 2002 will meet the treatment requirements for over 97% of the total load. The investment programme for 2000-2002 is the first phase of a rolling three year strategy that will be progressively advanced up to the end of the NDP in 2006. Further waste water schemes will be approved in future phases of the programme.