I thank the Minister for coming here this evening and I am sorry that I had to disturb him to bring such a matter as this, which is quite unusual, before the Seanad. This matter has caused great concern and great complications to the community involved with this group water scheme, the Anbally group water scheme in Cummer, County Galway. It is as simple as that and as straight as that. They made an application some time ago to form a group water scheme and they went through the necessary formalities in the normal way to do it and, after the first judgment on the scheme, it was suggested to them that their costs were so high that there should be a review and a reappraisal of the full scheme, which they did. They had quite a substantial saving. They did that by way of taking the source of supply, the distribution portion of the supply of the scheme, by way of waylays across people's land and they saved the State and themselves an enormous amount of money in so doing. At the same time, they also saved the Galway County Council quite an abnormal amount of money in regard to the restoration of roads etc. The scheme progressed and was completed last April. The new appraisal was submitted to Galway County Council and to the Department. Everything seemed to be absolutely perfect. The headworks cost of the scheme at that time was, and still is, £16,000.
That is more or less a general synopsis of the history of the scheme. Recently they received a letter from the Department telling them that the Department now refused to sanction the headworks grant of £16,000, the reason being that it would be far better for them to wait for the source, known as the mid-Galway regional group water supply scheme, to come on tap. That is three years away but, that apart, when one examines the cost of the headworks, £16,000, which is the grant-in-aid by the Department of the Environment to the scheme and when one values the cost of the connection of the Anbally group water scheme to the nearest point of the proposed mid-Galway regional scheme, the minimum mileage on that would be approximately five miles. A four-inch pipe or a three-inch pipe at the minimum would have to be taken from the Ballinacregg distribution source, which is an adjoining group water scheme, or it would have to be taken from the Bullaun group source which is the next adjoining point.
I cannot understand, and neither can the people of the Anbally scheme or, indeed, the people in Galway understand how the Department could estimate that there would be a saving — that is the phrase used — in waiting for the mid-Galway scheme when they would have to take their main supply five miles along a main arterial road, in one instance, and along a very busy county road on the other hand. The cost of taking that source from Ballinacregg or from Bullaun would, in my opinion, cost five times more than the £16,000 for an adequate supply which they already had.
I have contacted the engineering staff who deal with group water schemes in Galway and they said that there is no logic to it. I made several efforts to contact the local inspector from the Department to see if he could produce some logic to this decision. I could not locate him — I do not know for what reason. He may have been out. When he telephoned me back on one occasion, I was not at home but in any event I did hear rumours that he could not understand the logic of this either. The group scheme had been informed by some hierarchy in the Department in Dublin that this was the thesis by which they proposed to do the examination of the scheme.
There is no logic to it. There is no mathematical logic to it and I bring the matter up here this evening because I feel that the Minister will be kind enough in his examination of the report on this scheme to see that a reasonable solution is brought to it. The only reasonable solution is the original one, the £16,000 headworks grant-in-aid, be sanctioned so that we can start immediately on this scheme. If the Minister does that, I think he will eliminate the belief that there is either a shortage of cash in the Department to pay for the scheme, which seems to be the rumour most rife in the district, or that there has been a new policy — this is beginning to creep in around County Galway — of a "stop-go" policy in the Department concerning group water schemes.
I must say that in all honesty I have not seen either, but the decision to stop the headworks grant-in-aid of £16,000 to let this scheme get into operation raises a certain doubt in my mind. I was a bit shocked. The people have suffered a lot over the years in being in a part of the county which geographically is very dry. They have this horrendous situation of cannisters of all types and descriptions shooting up and down the main arterial road going into Galway. Those people are left in a terrible position for water. It is imperative that sanction for the original headworks is granted by the Minister because the people will be unable to continue the business in which they are involved, especially farming. There are farmers with large herds of cows awaiting the sanction of this scheme. There are businesses, bed and breakfast and different kinds of rural business in dire need and dire straits awaiting sanction for the scheme. As I said, there is no logic to not sanctioning it. I am raising the matter this evening because I want the Minister's comment on it.
I welcome the mid-Galway Group Water Scheme. The sanction for that regional scheme was welcomed by Galway County Council and, indeed, by the community who were dependent on it but it was a bit horrifying that a Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture who represents another part of the constituency of Galway saw fit to have letters sent three and four at a time from the staff of the Department of Agriculture notifying people that he had been responsible for the sanction of the mid-Galway Group Water Scheme. I do not know whether he was or was not, but it was absolutely unnecessary for him to circulate letters in areas he did not know. In fact, they were posted to houses which are not and never have been and never will be dependent on the mid-Galway Regional Group Water Scheme. It is a sad reflection these days on politics if people try to reach out at times to the public through these devious means not even knowing the facts as to who is or is not dependent on such matters. It certainly is not very nice for any Minister of State to do that in such a fashion. An apology is due by that Minister to the people of the community. On many occasions he insulted their intelligence. I say that as an aside. It is far better for a person making representations on such intricate matters, as I am doing here this evening about a smaller scheme, to speak in public about them. I believe that writing to the Department nowadays might not be the best thing to do. Hence the reason why I feel that in such matters where there is political interference of the nature I described it is far better for me to use the public platform of this House to highlight them for the Minister and his Department.
I am sure the Chair found it odd that such an item should be raised on the Adjournment. That is the reason. Our representations on such matters, particularly in regard to group water schemes should be made in a public manner like this. I have used the facilities of this house to do it. I desire the Minister to ask his Department to sanction the headworks on this scheme for the reasons I have clearly outlined, and which are undeniable. I look forward to the Minister's reply and I hope it will be of a satisfactory nature.
