A Chathaoirligh agus a dhaoine uaisle, is mór an onóir dom a bheith anseo libh inniu. I am director of services with Mayo County Council. Among other things, I am responsible for the council's role in water services. I am accompanied by Mr. Michael McDermott, senior executive engineer and Ms Bernadette Burke, executive engineer, who both work in our rural water services department.
From where I sit, this story commenced in July 2018 when the Cleragh community made an application to Mayo County Council for a community water connection. Within about a month, it had been assessed for feasibility and we informed the community that we regarded it to be feasible. In February 2019, we included it in our application for funding under the three-year multiannual rural water programme we were putting together at that time. In October 2020, the Department confirmed it accepted it for funding but did not allocate a specific amount. Nevertheless, it was included in the programme. In February 2020, we were advised by the Department that scheme and a number of other schemes we were promoting could proceed. The next problem, which was unexpected, was that the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, as members will recall, at the beginning of March 2020. That limited our ability to work and interact with communities, such as those in Cleragh. However, we did what we could to make progress and managed to hold a number of meetings with the community around August 2020 to identify the locations of the individual connections where the different houses on the scheme would be connected. This was all essential for the design purposes of the scheme.
We appointed Ryan Hanley consultants as our clients' representative in November 2020. The clients' representative, apart from designing the scheme and everything else, also has to work with Uisce Éireann to get the necessary water connection. A pre-application inquiry was formally submitted to Uisce Éireann in January 2021. Uisce Éireann responded positively that the scheme was feasible in April 2021, subject to a number of conditions. I will refer to two of the conditions briefly. One condition was that we would connect at a certain point that involved a river crossing and that involved a Natura site, so we had to get a Natura impact assessment and design it to cross the river and, because of that, we had to get planning permission. That led to additional costs, which the Department funded and we were appreciative of that. The other condition was that the plant in Kiltimagh would need to be upgraded as there was not enough capacity in the public water supply plant in Kiltimagh to support these additional connections and the demand they would create. The plant in Kiltimagh has been upgraded. The upgrade was concluded around the end of 2023. Apart from being a problem for Cleragh, this was a problem for Mayo County Council as it was affecting our ability to build social houses in Kiltimagh. It was also a problem for some private developers who wished to build houses in Kiltimagh. If there is no water, people will not want to live there or buy the houses. The plant has now been upgraded by Uisce Éireann, and that is very important.
We sought tenders in December 2023 and received two in January 2024, while in November 2023, Ryan Hanley made a formal application for the water connection. That application is the subject of ongoing correspondence between Mayo County Council and Uisce Éireann and it will ultimately determine the conditions under which the scheme will be granted and the charges we will have to pay. That is important at this stage because the actual costs will feed into the overall cost of the project and affect what the householders have to pay. To put it this way, the next steps are that we expect to have a decision on the water connection soon from Uisce Éireann, which will enable us to finalise our costs. When our costs are finalised, we will be able to write to each of the householders to tell them where we are and how much their contribution will be and see whether they wish to proceed on that basis. We will follow up those letters with a meeting with householders so that any concerns or questions they have can be addressed and explained. If they wish to proceed, we will make an application for the specific amount of funding required to the Department. If that is granted, we will go to the construction phase. When it has been constructed, the people of Cleragh would have a sufficient supply of good quality water to meet all their needs.
To date, a total of more than €51,000 has been spent by Mayo County Council on this project. That has covered engineering design costs, ecology, archeology and the Natura impact assessment, which had to be done because of the river crossing. It also has covered the cost of making the planning application, on which we recently received a decision in April 2024 that planning permission will be granted. Assuming no appeal is made, in a few weeks' time we will have an actual grant of permission. As of now, we do not think there will be an appeal and I hope that holds true.
We have not received any contribution from the householders at this stage nor have we requested any. The reason is that until the costs are finalised, we are not in a position to calculate how much their contributions will be or to request them. That is the next step and we are heading towards it as soon as the costs have been finalised. That could enable the project to be completed in a reasonably short timescale from where we are at the moment.
Finally, I take this opportunity to thank Michael McDermott and Bernadette Burke for the enormous work they have done on this project. I thank the Department for its co-operation, funding and support throughout the project and I also acknowledge the role of Uisce Éireann, which we are still dealing with regarding the water connection. Uisce Éireann has delivered in that it has upgraded the plant and without that plant being upgraded, not only would this project not go ahead but social housing and the private development would also be affected. A lot has been achieved in this respect and we hope to bring the whole thing to a conclusion. When we conclude, my colleagues and I will be happy to answer any questions the Cathaoirleach or members may wish to ask.
