Deputy Shatter was selected for the Adjournment debate but he has been detained unavoidably and has sent his apologies to the House. I call, therefore, on Deputy Coughlan.
Adjournment Debate. - Ardara (Donegal) Sewerage Scheme.
I wish to share my time with Deputy McGinley.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I raise this matter as it has perplexed my constituents and me. Ardara has been designated as a heritage town and, as a consequence, has developed a wonderful reputation as a tourist centre. The need to provide a sewerage scheme is paramount for the development of the town and to encourage investment in it. The scheme was mooted over 25 years ago. In 1983 a preliminary report was sent to the Department. The cost at that stage was in the region of £780,000 and there was a population of 1,600 people in Ardara at that time. In 1985 it was decided that secondary treatment would be necessary and in 1989 a new preliminary report was sent to the Department. Since 1989 the Department has queried a number of issues which have been dealt with locally and the scheme was redesigned.
In September 1995, the scheme was resubmitted to the Department of the Environment. At that time the population was 1,900 and the cost has escalated to £2.8 million. I appreciate the need to ensure we have secondary treatment. However, due to the delay since 1983 greater cost has been incurred for the provision of the scheme yet it is not available to us.
As a member of Donegal County Council I am aware that it was in the invidious position of not being able to provide a housing scheme in the town because the sewerage scheme was not available. I ask that the scheme be made a priority. Donegal County Council made an application to the Department and the EU Commission under the Cohesion Funds for the Gaeltacht areas but the Commission saw fit not to proceed with the Ardara scheme. A funding mechanism should be provided by the Department, whether from Structural Funds or Exchequer funds, to provide the scheme. I hope permission will be given to the county council to proceed to the planning stage with the scheme and to allow for the preparation of contract documents.
Tá an áit seo sa Ghaeltacht agus dá bhrí sin tá sé an-thábhachtach ní hamháin do na daoine a bhfuil comhnaí orthu in Ard a' Ratha ach go mór mhór don tionscal turasóireachta atá ann. Iarraim ortsa arís a Aire leanúint ar aghaidh agus go mbeidh cead ag Comhairle Chontae Dhún na nGall leanúint ar aghaidh chun pleananna a fháil. Taim ag iarraidh ar an Aire airgead a chur ar fáil chun go mbeimid ábalta dul ar aghaidh leis an scéim. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach do mhuintir Ard a' Ratha agus do mhuintir Thír Chonaill i gcoitinne.
Ba mhaith liom buíochas a thabhairt don Teachta Máire Ní Chochláin as beagáinín dá cuid ama a thabhairt dom chun tacaíocht a thabhairt dí ar an méid atá ráite aici maidir le scéim séarachais Ard a' Ratha. Mar a dúirt sí táimid ag pleanáil agus ag feitheamh le blianta fada le scéim séarachais don bhaile seo. Is oth liom a rá nár éirigh linn é a chur ar fáil go fóill.
Any Members who have been to Ardara will know it is one of the most picturesque towns in Donegal. It has been designated a heritage town and attracts many tourists from different parts of Ireland and Europe. It is renowned for its crafts and music and is a very attractive town in every sense. Unfortunately, it will not be able to develop to its full potential unless it has a proper sewerage scheme. Various estimates for the cost of a sewerage scheme have been put forward dating back 20 years and the current estimate for the work is almost £3 million. It is not the most expensive scheme planned or envisaged for Donegal, but is a crucial one for Ardara.
Further development, whether private or local authority housing or industry, will be badly hampered unless a sewerage scheme is provided. The hopes of those in the town have often been raised in the past only to be dashed. The scheme was submitted to Europe for approval last year or the year before as one of the Gaeltacht group of schemes, but no progress has been made since then. The ball is back in the court of the council and the Department of the Environment and Local Government. We will have to finance the provision of that scheme out of our resources. I ask the Minister to support this request because the scheme is badly needed in that little town.
I thank Deputies Coughlan and McGinley for raising this matter. My colleague the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, is unable to be in the House to respond to this matter and he asked me to take it on his behalf.
As a heritage town and principal accommodation and service centre for tourism, the Minister is conscious of the need for adequate sewerage facilities at Ardara. Before dealing with Ardara, I would like to take this opportunity to outline the wider picture in relation to the provision of water and waste water facilities for the country at large and for the county of Donegal.
Last month the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, announced the largest ever national investment programme for water and sewerage treatment services. Investment this year will amount to a massive £185 million and that represents an increase of just over 13 per cent on 1997 figures and a 50 per cent increase on the 1996 figure. The unprecedented level of investment in the water and sewerage services underlines, in the most positive way, that the Government is totally committed to the improvement of the country's environmental infrastructure. This infrastructure is needed to meet the existing and projected needs arising from residential, commercial and other development. In 1998 a further 61 major public schemes will be starting construction on top of the same number of schemes already under construction.
I am pleased to say County Donegal is benefiting from this substantial level of investment. Schemes under way in the county account for an investment of well over £30 million and will have a major impact in removing existing development constraints and in providing the necessary infrastructure to support expansion of tourism and other economic sectors. They include the Pollan Dam water supply, Bundoran sewerage, Donegal water conservation project and the Ballybofey-Stranorlar sewerage scheme. Apart from those the 1998 investment programme will allow for planning to be advanced on sewerage schemes at Letterkenny, Donegal town, Bundoran, Ballyshannon, Rossnowlagh, Killybegs, Gweedore and Carndonagh and on the Letterkenny water scheme. All of those schemes have a completion value of about £57 million.
Turning to the specific matter raised by the Deputies, Cohesion Funding was sought for the Ardara sewerage scheme, along with Burtonport and Gweedore, under an application for assistance for Gaeltacht areas sewerage schemes in Donegal. Unfortunately, approval has not been forthcoming and the prospects of funding under the current Cohesion Fund are not good. Until such time as a source of funding can be identified it would not be appropriate to allow Donegal County Council to proceed any further with the planning of the Ardara scheme. I hope the Deputies will agree that County Donegal is getting its fair share of the available funding and Ardara will be kept in mind should any additional funding become available to the Minister.