Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 May 2017
14. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the position regarding the EU Commission's legal proceedings against the Government for the breach of the urban wastewater treatment directive. [24807/17]
View answerIn February, the European Commission initiated court proceedings against the Irish Government for breaches of the urban wastewater treatment directive. Infringement proceedings have been ongoing since 2012. I am looking for an update from the Minister of State on the progress on the 38 agglomerations or urban areas that are currently in breach of EU law and what the Government will do to rectify these. How much will be invested year on year from now until 2021 to bring these 38 agglomerations up to standard?
The urban wastewater treatment directive mandates the required standards for the collection and treatment of wastewater from urban areas of greater than 2,000 population equivalent. The directive dates from 1991, with the last implementation deadline in the directive being 31 December 2005. By this date, collection systems should have been in place and secondary treatment of wastewater should have been provided for all agglomerations with a population equivalent of over 2,000 people, where the treated wastewater is discharged to rivers, lakes or estuaries. As such, the issue of compliance with the requirements of the urban wastewater treatment directive in Ireland is a long-standing problem.
The European Commission commenced an infringement process against Ireland regarding its implementation of the directive in September 2013. This was followed by a supplementary letter of formal notice in September 2015. A reasoned opinion was then sent by the European Commission in September 2016, with the case being referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union in February 2017. The supplementary letter of formal notice of September 2015 identified compliance concerns regarding a total of 82 agglomerations. However, communications with the European Commission as part of the infringement process have satisfied the Commission that 44 of those 82 agglomerations should be removed from the case. While this indicates the progress being made, 38 agglomerations remain of concern to the European Commission. Irish Water will continue to prioritise key projects in their capital investment plans to address the issues of non-compliance in the outstanding areas.
To address all these concerns, in the various plans, would cost roughly €1.7 billion.
Interestingly, the primary reason the European Commission initiated the infringement proceedings was because when Fine Gael took office in 2011, it slashed the capital budget for wastewater treatment plans. Prior to that, particularly when John Gormley was Minister, the investment was between €200 million and €300 million on an annual basis. When Fine Gael took office with Labour, it was slashed to figures such as €150 million and €124 million. Clearly, the reason we are now facing potentially millions of euro of fines is because Fine Gael slashed the funding for those projects. What I am looking to know and what was not in the answer the first time around is, year on year from here onwards, exactly how much is being spent on tackling the 38 agglomerations in breach of EU law?
The Environmental Protection Agency has identified 127 priority locations, including the 38, where they feel there could be future breaches of EU law. What is the plan? Specifically what is the level of capital investment in those, year on year from now to 2021?
I mis-stated the figure. I said €1.7 billion but that was the total spend. From 2014 to 2024, about €1.1 billion will be required to ensure the compliance for the 38 agglomerations. That is the rough spend. Of the €1.7 billion, Irish Water plans to spend from 2017 to 2021, approximately €623 million is planned for investment in the cited areas. The planned investment builds on an investment of €179 million for the period 2014 to 2016 to develop urban areas. A projected requirement of €286 million for the period beyond 2021 is required. It will bring us to a total spend of €1.1 billion. The €1.1 billion is an increase of €100 million on the previous estimate of what it would cost to fix these.
The Deputy said the current Government and the last Government cut the funding in this area. I do not need to give the Deputy a lecture on economics. The money was not there to spend. That is why we set up the process of Irish Water to be able to put us in a position to spend greater amounts of capital on investment in water and sewage facilities. Trust me, if the money had been at our disposal in our first five years of Government, as in many other areas, we would have been happy to spend it. The money was not there and there is no point in trying to say a previous Government left money in the kitty because it had not. The kitties were bare when we got there.
If John Gormley was able to sustain the level of funding in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, when the recession was at its deepest, there is simply no reason why Fine Gael, if it had chosen to continue that level of funding, could not have done so. My question has still not been answered. I want to know, year on year, from now to 2021, what the investment is. I knew the figure was €1.1 billion over that period because of a reply to a parliamentary question a number of weeks ago. Unless we front-load that expenditure starting from this year, next year and the year after, we will face potentially millions of euro in fines. Clearly the officials have not given the Minister of State the figures. It would be good to let me know, in writing, how much of that €1.1 billion is being put in, year on year, next year, the year after and the year after that. The reason the Commission has initiated court proceedings is because it is not satisfied at the progress to date on the 38 agglomerations. I am not only concerned about the 38 but the 127 identified by the EPA. I would be very grateful if the Minister of State could provide in writing at a later stage figures for what capital investment they will get from now to 2021.
I am happy to do that. As with Deputy Connolly, the question the Deputy submitted is not the one he is asking me to answer now. I do not have the data with me. I have no problem getting the breakdown for the years. The total figure is €623 million. There is an additional €290 million needed beyond that now. The Deputy asked me the position on the legal proceedings. The question did not mention figures but I am happy to get them for the Deputy.
The Minister of State is a smart man. I thought he might know off the top of his head.
I know a lot of things but I would not like to put information on the record that might be slightly wrong. The Deputy likes accuracy of data and he likes quoting the figures when he gets them. I have no problem giving him the information.
The next question is in the name of Deputy Bríd Smith. We are tight for time.
I did not realise the Acting Chairman was going to take my question. I get squashed in at the end. Will the Minister of State have time to take the question?
Yes, but time is of the essence.
