Vol. 540 No. 3
209 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government when an application for the upgrading and extension to Monaghan town sewerage scheme was received; the stage which this application has reached; if funding will be provided in 2001; if he has been advised that several housing developments are waiting and dependent on this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20676/01]
A preliminary report for the upgrading and extension to the Monaghan town sewerage scheme was submitted to my Department in 1996 but has not been approved.
The scheme was fifth on the list of water and sewerage schemes submitted by Monaghan County Council in response to my Department's request to each local authority to undertake a fresh assessment of needs for capital works in their area and to prioritise their proposals on the basis of the assessments. The priority lists were taken into account in the framing of the Water Services Investment Programme 2000-2002 announced last July. Given the priority afforded to the scheme by the council, the level of competing demands and the funding available, it was not possible to include it in the programme at that time.
Approval has been given to two elements of the scheme in order to provide services to 1,300 new residential sites under the serviced land initiative.
