Many who have visited County Galway in recent years have been fortunate enough to visit the picturesque village of Kinvara on the west coast of Galway, which I argue is one of the most picturesque villages on the whole western seaboard. There is a vibrant and diverse community living in Kinvara who have done incredible work in recent years to ensure it remains a very attractive and vibrant place to live.
The one glaring omission which has not been addressed to date in Kinvara is the lack of a sewage treatment plant to serve that town. Every day, 70,000 gallons of raw untreated sewage is discharged into one of the most picturesque bays on the western seaboard. The topography of that bay and the current movements that take place within it do not provide for the complete flushing out of this raw untreated sewage on a daily basis. Anyone who is fortunate enough to visit Kinvara, particularly during the summer, and I have been there on many occasions, will know that when there is a low tide, the stomach churning stench that emanates from that raw untreated sewage in the bay is horrendous. At other times, when a serious discharge has taken place at high tide, one can see faeces floating around the quay in Kinvara.
A preliminary report for a sewage treatment plant for Kinvara was submitted by Galway County Council to the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Dick Roche, for his approval in October 2002. In October 2005, the European Commission slammed the Government for its failure to introduce pollution control measures at Kinvara and at 13 other designated shellfish locations. In December 2005 in this House, following questioning by my colleague, Deputy Ulick Burke, the then Minister of State, Deputy Frank Fahey, concluded his speech by stating:
It is a scandal that raw sewage is going into Kinvara Bay which is an enclosed bay with a significant oyster bed. It is also used for fishing and water sports and so on. We all need to see that scheme move on as quickly as possible.
Approval for the scheme was granted by the Department in December 2006 after a very active campaign by the local people. In 2007, the Minister, Deputy Gormley, confirmed that the Kinvara sewerage scheme had been included in his Department's water services investment programme as a scheme to begin construction in 2008. We are now approaching the end of 2010 and, to date, there is still no unequivocal and reliable assurance for the people of Kinvara that they will get a sewage treatment plant.
The water services department of Galway County Council and its director of services have been most proactive in making progress on this matter in the past five to seven years. The director and his engineers have done everything required of them in this regard. As with many other projects in County Galway, we await final approval from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government giving the go-ahead to the county council to prepare the contract documents and finally move to a position where the people of Kinvara will see an end to this long and very unedifying saga. I hope the Minister of State will give them some hope in order that they will believe this saga is coming to an end.
Everyone, including the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, argues for greater efficiency within the public service. Sometimes I wonder whether the Minister looks within his own Department to see the delays that occur time and again in processing applications such as this. It happens with regard to sewage treatment and water supply provision. It is a bad example to set and intolerable. I look forward to receiving a positive response from the Minister of State at long last.
