Vol. 481 No. 4
22 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans, if any, he has to provide sewerage treatment for Galway City; if he supports the building of a treatment plant on Mutton Island; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16289/97]
It is the responsibility of the relevant local sanitary authority to put forward proposals for waste water treatment projects to meet the standards laid down in the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, subject to the principle of using best available technology not entailing excessive cost. It is also a matter for the local authority to plan and design such projects subject to the requisite statutory procedures. My Department's main function is to provide funding for the planning and construction of the projects while ensuring that overall policy objectives are met.
In regard to the provision of waste water treatment facilities for Galway city, having considered a range of options, Galway Corporation has advanced a proposal for a treatment plant on Mutton Island with a causeway to the mainland. In 1993 the then Minister for the Environment certified the environment impact statement for the Mutton Island proposal subject to certain conditions. The corporation's continued preference for this proposal was confirmed as recently as August 1997 but it is currently subject to an appeal to the Supreme Court.
