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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 8 Mar 1994

Vol. 440 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - Ballygar (Galway) Group Water Scheme.

Thank you, Sir, for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. There are ten members involved in the St. Brendan's group water scheme in Ballygar, County Galway. It is a small scheme involving five householders and five landowners. Will a supplementary grant be paid towards the scheme or, alternatively, will the Minister announce an increase in the grants available for group water schemes because there is a shortfall of £15,000 for the Ballygar scheme? I understand that £3 million has been allocated in the Department of the Environment for group water schemes in 1994, but schemes will not proceed if supplementary grants are not paid or if grants are not increased. Those grants constitute £700 for each householder and £500 for each landowner and are inadequate to deal with the increased cost of group water schemes.

The allocation of £3 million for 1994 is a small figure compared to that in 1982 when £8 million was allocated for such schemes mainly from FEOGA funds. I urge the Minister to secure European funds for such schemes now. More than 100 are awaiting approval in County Galway, St. Brendan's is only one of them. In other words, 2,500 houses in Galway do not have an adequate water supply. This is an issue of major concern in Galway, particularly in my constituency. Will the Minister indicate if approval can be given for the Ballygar scheme? It is one of the smallest schemes and cannot proceed unless the shortfall is bridged by either a supplementary grant or an increase in the grants for houses and landowners. I hope the Minister has positive news for me.

Wexford): I thank Deputy Kitt for raising this issue. This proposed scheme will serve nine houses and five farms. It is designed to connect to an extension of the Ballygar public water supply scheme.

The area to be served is close to the town of Ballygar and is likely to undergo further development. For this reason, Galway County Council has recommended upsizing the distribution system to cater for the future development needs of the area. This would involve the laying of larger, more expensive water mains as well as increasing the capacity of the sump from 2,250 gallons to 7,000 gallons. These recommendations mean that the scheme would now cost considerably more than originally planned.

The estimated cost of the revised scheme is approximately £33,000. As the number of grant eligible houses and farms is relatively small, grant income only amounts to £9,500 or less than 30 per cent of overall cost. The revised scheme is not economically viable on the basis of standard group water scheme grants and the group has sought a supplementary grant of around £20,000 from the provision for public water and sewerage schemes.

Deputy Kitt will be aware that the detailed arrangements for water and sanitary services schemes generally, including group water schemes, are being reviewed in the context of the operational programme for environmental services, now under preparation. It will take some time to finalise these arrangements. No specific commitments can be made with regard to the funding of group schemes such as St. Brendan's until the overall funding arrangements for public water and sewerage schemes have been decided for the period.

The Deputy's concern that the scheme should proceed at the earliest date possible is appreciated and will be borne in mind in the further consideration of these issues.

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