Vol. 568 No. 5
119 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government if he will make a statement on the implementation of those areas of the national development plan for which his Department has responsibility; and if his attention has been drawn to the serious concerns expressed by the Institution of Engineers regarding delays in the implementation of infrastructural projects under the plan, some of which they indicate may be six years late. [16507/03]
The national development plan provides for investment of approximately €17.5 billion for measures coming within the remit of my Department, including social housing, water and waste water services, non-national roads, waste management, urban and village development, habitat protection and conservation, and heritage conservation.
Progress on the housing, water services and non-national roads measures has been satisfactory. In 2002, expenditure exceeded the NDP allocation under all three measures and in housing there was the highest level of output under the range of social housing measures for 16 years.
While the number of water services schemes to be completed was down on projections, this is due, in part, to the focus on large infrastructural projects required to meet EU and national water and wastewater treatment standards. However, the Water Services Investment Programme 2002-04 contains over 600 water and sewerage schemes at various stages of development which will be processed over the NDP period. Expenditure on the rural water programme, which has been slower than anticipated to date, will pick up over the latter half of the NDP period. The prime indicator for this measure is the number of rural households with an improved water supply. At the end of 2002, 145,000 households – 55% of the end 2006 target – had benefited in this regard. Good progress has been made under the non-national roads measure according to the evaluation of investment in the road network – August 2002, which was carried out by Fitzpatrick Associates. This report is available in the Oireachtas Library.
Due to delays in finalising the waste management planning process, the waste infrastructure capital grants scheme was only launched in March 2002. This scheme provides financial assistance to both public and private sectors for the provision of waste recycling and recovery infrastructure. In November 2002, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government announced the first round of grant allocation to local authorities towards the provision of waste infrastructure. A second round was announced in late April 2003, bringing to €22 million the amount available for recycling and recovery facilities.
