I propose to take Questions Nos. 984, 1012 and 1050 together.
The Ennis Town Water Supply Treatment Scheme, which will provide a new water treatment plant for Ennis, is approved for construction in my Department's Water Services Investment Programme 2005-07. Clare County Council's tender report and recommendation for the scheme, which envisages a 78 weeks construction period, were received in the Department earlier this month and are being examined as quickly as possible. Following approval, the Council will be in a position to place the contract for the construction of the new plant.
My Department has been providing special assistance to Clare County Council under the Local Government Fund towards the operational cost of a temporary treatment plant that will provide potable water until the new permanent infrastructure becomes operational. As a result of the installation of the temporary plant, the Boil Water Notice was lifted for the generality of Ennis consumers with immediate effect on 15 December last. However, I understand that, as a precautionary measure, it continues to apply for the present to persons who are immuno-compromised, infants and pre-school children. It is a matter for Clare County Council, as the sanitary authority, to determine, in light of the likely duration of the limited precautionary boil water regime, whether further exceptional arrangements in relation to water supply are appropriate for those cases.