Responsibility for the administration of the group water scheme capital grants has been devolved to county councils since 1997. The grants are funded, as part of the wider rural water programme, through annual block grant allocations by my Department to individual county councils. It is a matter for councils themselves to prioritise and approve specific schemes for grant purposes.
Since 1998, expenditure by my Department on grants towards the provision and improvement of group water schemes has amounted to over €145 million (including the 2002 block allocations). The following table sets out this expenditure, which would have been augmented by group schemes' own resources, on an annual basis by county. Information in relation to the proportion of the expenditure that relates solely to water treatment equipment is not available in my Department.
Since March 2000, group schemes dependent on quality deficient private sources are eligible for a 100% grant for the installation of water treatment and disinfection equipment. In order to ensure the most cost effective delivery and operation of such equipment, and to secure long-term protection of the related capital investment, procurement policy in the group scheme sector is, in common with public schemes, based on design/build/operate contracts, coupled with the bundling of numbers of projects under a single contract. My Department has recently produced a comprehensive procurement guidance document to assist local authorities and group schemes in the implementation of this policy and I am arranging to have a copy of the document sent to the Deputy.
Department of the Environment and Local Government: grants for provision and improvement of group water schemes
County Council |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 Allocation |
Total 1998-2002 |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
|
Carlow |
36,153 |
63,487 |
88,882 |
80,628 |
434,000 |
269,150 |
Cavan |
406,540 |
672,961 |
2,006,186 |
4,012,372 |
4,600,000 |
7,098,059 |
Clare |
1,143,993 |
1,018,157 |
1,568,127 |
1,841,120 |
2,200,000 |
5,571,397 |
Cork |
633,241 |
1,015,790 |
1,307,830 |
1,555,429 |
1,,675,000 |
4,512,291 |
Donegal |
1,503,314 |
1,160,753 |
1,828,311 |
3,174,345 |
3,550,000 |
7,666,723 |
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
16,500 |
0 |
Fingal |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
South Dublin |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Galway |
2,444,671 |
3,418,636 |
4,763,124 |
3,555,267 |
5,345,000 |
14,181,698 |
Kerry |
741,238 |
859,062 |
962,898 |
1,079,277 |
1,880,000 |
3,642,475 |
Kildare |
1,012,837 |
1,160,350 |
489,065 |
1,618,916 |
850,000 |
4,281,168 |
County Council |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 Allocation |
Total 1998-2002 |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
|
Kilkenny |
136,521 |
507,895 |
506,827 |
476,152 |
550,000 |
1,627,395 |
Laois |
132,309 |
403,777 |
476,152 |
641,218 |
1,060,000 |
1,653,455 |
Leitrim |
434,301 |
1,462,774 |
1,422,107 |
1,646,215 |
1,950,000 |
4,965,397 |
Limerick |
843,708 |
973,558 |
860,248 |
825,330 |
870,000 |
3,502,843 |
Longford |
102,594 |
368,224 |
444,408 |
213,999 |
850,000 |
1,129,225 |
Louth |
581,055 |
852,121 |
307,277 |
342,829 |
530,000 |
2,083,282 |
Mayo |
13,233 |
2,121,882 |
2,856,911 |
2,856,911 |
4,850,000 |
7,848,927 |
Meath |
251,700 |
196,809 |
298,388 |
476,152 |
750,000 |
1,223,050 |
Monaghan |
656,171 |
1,895,581 |
1,484,178 |
2,459,862 |
5,030,000 |
6,475,792 |
Offaly |
183,203 |
503,656 |
596,777 |
1,257,041 |
1,650,000 |
2,540,676 |
Roscommon |
645,488 |
1,703,516 |
877,911 |
1,505,085 |
1,025,000 |
4,731,980 |
Sligo |
640,246 |
838,764 |
626,367 |
1,003,093 |
2,250,000 |
3,108,470 |
North Tipperary |
323,944 |
704,705 |
626,402 |
1,396,712 |
1,200,000 |
3,051,763 |
South Tipperary |
49,560 |
158,717 |
222,204 |
488,849 |
390,000 |
919,331 |
Waterford |
6,716 |
65,392 |
165,066 |
253,948 |
234,500 |
491,121 |
Westmeath |
1,360,198 |
1,515,267 |
521,936 |
2,095,068 |
1,160,000 |
5,492,469 |
Wexford |
85,568 |
269,819 |
0 |
203,158 |
840,000 |
558,545 |
Wicklow |
44,441 |
101,706 |
126,974 |
241,250 |
260,000 |
514,371 |
Total |
14,412,934 |
24,013,359 |
25,414,556 |
35,300,207 |
46,000,000 |
145,141,055 |