Vol. 467 No. 7
154 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for the Environment the number of towns in County Donegal that are currently without a sewerage scheme; the plans, if any, he has to deal with the issue of raw sewage being pumped into rivers, for example, in high amenity tourist areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14177/96]
It is the responsibility of local sanitary authorities to initiate proposals for sewerage schemes in their own areas where a need is established.
In general, the disposal of sewage effluent to inland or coastal waters is being dealt with by reference to the Urban Waste Water Treatment directive, which lays down minimum standards in relation to effluent discharged from waste water treatment works and requires that these standards are met by the year 2000, or 2005, as appropriate. Much of the work required to comply with this Directive is assisted by the European Commission by way of funding from the Cohesion Fund, the Interreg 2 Programme, or the Structural Funds. Towns in Donegal which must comply with this Directive by the year 2005 are Ballybofey-Stranorlar, Donegal Town, Ballyshannon, Killybegs, Buncrana, Carndonagh and Movile-Greencastle. Schemes required to comply with the Directive are accorded the highest priority by my Department in determining the make up of the annual water and sewerage investment programme.
This year, I initiated a new sub-programme to support the Government's Resort Initiative and to facilitate the development of key tourist areas. Under this sub-programme, the Bundoran sewerage scheme, Stage 2, has been approved for Exchequer funding.
