I regret having to delay the Minister for Finance after his long gruelling day on the Finance Bill. I am happy that it is the Minister for Finance who is here tonight to hear my plea because I have already discussed this with three successive Ministers for the Environment. As we all know, it is the Minister for Finance who makes the allocation to the Minister for the Environment so perhaps tonight I will get a better result from the Minister for Finance.
I raise this matter to highlight the importance and urgency of providing a swereage scheme at Williamstown, County Galway. It must be nearly 50 years since the idea was mooted. Down the years many efforts have been made to get the scheme off the ground. There were many reasons for the delay. Let me say, right away, that the delay has not always been the fault of the county council or the Department of the Environment. There were problems in acquiring land but thankfully this problem has now been resolved and the consultants have finalised their reports. Those will be lodged with the Department in the very near future. Provision has been made in the plans for a small extension to the original scheme. That has all been finalised now. I ask the Minister to give me a firm commitment that the money will be provided for this scheme to allow it to start.
All I am looking for is a sum of roughly £500,000 which is not a great deal in the context of the overall allocation to the Department of the Environment.
The situation is so bad that in summer time the raw sewage runs out onto the streets. As well as being unsightly it is a serious health hazard. Indeed, the stench in warm weather is unbearable. This happens because the septic tanks which service local households are built on non-porus ground as a result of which they fill up and oveflow very quickly. This has been a recurring problem over the years and the residents have been very patient but their patience is running out. The local primary school which caters for all the children of the parish has had very serious problems because of their septic tanks overflowing. This should not be allowed continue. The town cannot develop to any great extent unless it has the proper infrastructure.
One of the first things that should be provided is a good sewerage scheme so that young people in the parish can build houses in their own local town. I ask the Minister to give very sympathetic consideration to their case and allow them to proceed. Now that the plans for this scheme have been prepared and the consultants were ready to submit their report to the Department, the money should be sanctioned as soon as possible to allow the scheme go ahead.