Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
1783. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his plans to provide funding to smaller villages and towns for community sewerage schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1419/18]
View answerMy Department’s new Multi-annual Rural Water Programme 2016-2018 was developed through a working group of key stakeholders involving local authorities, the Water Services Transition Office, Irish Water, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes as well as my Department. The programme provides for the funding of demonstration Group Sewerage Schemes, through Measure 4(d), where clustering of households on individual septic tanks is not a viable option, particularly from an environmental perspective.
Local authorities were invited in January 2016 to submit bids under the programme. The invitation envisaged no more than two demonstration group sewerage projects being brought forward under the measure in any one year of the three year programme. The demonstrations will allow my Department, over the course of the programme, to determine the appropriate enduring funding levels and relationship with the current grant scheme.
As new demonstration group sewerage schemes have been identified for the duration of the programme, and as only two demonstration projects can be advanced in any given year, my Department does not propose to modify the current programme at this point.
I am conscious of the challenges which remain in relation to rural water services. Consequently I announced last December that my Department will initiate a short, focused review of the wider investment needs relating to rural water services. This review will feed into the consideration of the multi-annual programme from 2019 and any new measures will be reflected in the finalised River Basin Management Plan to be published early this year.
