Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 3 Mar 1994

Vol. 139 No. 10

Adjournment Matter. - Fermoy Water Scheme.

Mr. Sherlock

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to raise this important matter on the Adjournment. This issue relates to the delay in giving approval to Fermoy, Urban District Council to carry out investigations on its water supply source and site for its proposed new reservoir at the Uplands, Fermoy to allow the council to complete contract documents for the scheme for submission to the Department for grant assistance.

There are regions in the growing town of Fermoy where the water pressure is so low that the supply is not adequate. Stage 3 of the Fermoy water supply will resolve that problem. It is necessary to investigate the source of supply and the site for a reservoir. The cost of the investigation is estimated at £40,000. The council has already advised the Minister that it is willing to carry the cost in the short term provided that the Minister agrees and confirms that such cost can be recouped under the terms of the scheme. From my experience as a member of a local authority, it is usual practice that such costs are added to the capital cost of the scheme. The capital cost of this scheme is about £1.5 million and in that context the cost of £40,000 is insignificant.

At present areas of the town have such low water pressure that families cannot use showers or washing machines. That is uncalled for. The area involved is the Uplands and the majority of residents are tenants of the local authority. There are 36 houses which boast a population of 170, of whom 92 are children. The residents cannot have a shower, a bath or use their washing machines. Only at night does the water pressure rise sufficiently to fill the tanks in their houses. That is not good enough.

Anybody who might be interested in Fermoy as an area in which to locate an industry would look at the infrastructure of the area and decide that they would like to live in a town with an adequate water supply. There is little chance for future development for Fermoy until the water shortage problems are rectified.

It looks as if the Government's plans for Structural Funds are being affected, otherwise there could be no justification for not allowing Fermoy UDC to spend £40,000 to improve its water supply. I appeal to the Minister to give the council approval to spend that money. The council could go ahead and spend the money if it was sure that it could recoup it later.

We are talking about a town and its environs not having an adequate water supply but having plans to resolve the problem. I am not appealing to the Minister immediately this issue has arisen; it was first raised with the Minister and the Department 12 months ago. I deemed it necessary to raise the matter now because of the urgency of the case. I hope the Minister will respond favourably.

Minister for the Environment (Mr. M. Smith)

I thank Senator Sherlock for raising this matter. As he is aware considerable progress has been made in the provision of water and sewerage infrastructure in County Cork. Investment during the 1989-93 operational programme totalled £30 million. A number of important projects were completed, including sewerage works in Kanturk and Bandon, north-east Cork regional water supply and water supplies in Ballingarry, Timoleague and Courtmacsherry. This fitted into a programme which operated nationally at an overall cost of £400 million and I have kept the level of expenditure this year at an all time record of £122 million for the water and sanitary services programme. This is a clear indication of the Government's commitment to the provision of good quality drinking water and to the elimination of pollution blackspots.

Over the period of the National Development Plan, the State, with the support of EU funding, will invest around £100 million a year in water and sewerage schemes. This is a large investment which will result in substantial improvement in the quality of our environment and provide an essential part of the infrastructure needed to support employment growth in the country.

Notwithstanding progress to date and the level of Exchequer and EU finance committed to the water services programme, I am fully aware that we cannot meet all the demands for water services at the pace we would like. In this regard I am appreciative of the water quantity problems which stage 3 of the Fermoy water supply scheme is seeking to address at an estimated cost of £2.3 million. However, in common with many other worthwhile proposals around the country it has not been possible to progress the scheme up to now due to the pressure of other priority schemes in the water services programme.

Work is well advanced within the framework of the National Development Plan in putting together the operational programme for environmental services. The determination of priorities under the operational programme will take account of a wide range of factors including the need to meet our obligations under the urban waste water and drinking water directive and meet the requirements of industry and the tourism sector. Until this process has been completed it will not be possible to indicate those schemes which will get to construction in the next few years.

I will keep what Senator Sherlock said in mind. I know from representations I have had and from what he said this evening that there is an understanding in Fermoy that everything can proceed provided there is sanction for the investigation works. Clearly, to go that far we want to be sure we are able to provide the £2.3 million which will be needed on top of that to complete the scheme.

As far as any tailoring of the National Development Plan or EU funds is concerned, there are a lot of misapprehensions. It has been clear for a long time that the figure is £7.2 billion, not £8 billion, so there is no point arguing about it. The development plan will go on apace and we will try to do what we did with the county roads this year where we tried to increase the Exchequer funds where there was a fall in the EU funding. I am anxious to maintain a high level of expenditure in this area and I will try to come to the rescue of the Fermoy scheme as soon as I can.

The operational programme which will follow on the acceptance by the EU of our National Development Plan will show the individual components each year over the five years when funding will be available for particular schemes. It will be my desire to make sure that Fermoy is included in that programme and we should have those discussions out of the way in the next five or six weeks. Once that is done we will come to the question of how soon it can start.

It would be wrong for me to indicate that sanctioning the investigation works and letting them proceed would be sufficient without also knowing that I had the funds to do the work. Otherwise we would be suggesting to the people of Fermoy that it is only a matter of £40,000 and everything will be all right. I do not think they are interested in the investigation works but rather in the provision of the completed augmented water supply scheme, and I will do what I can to solve that problem as quickly as I can.

The Seanad adjourned at 5.15 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 8 March 1993.