In January 2001, my Department approved Kildare County Council's application for funding for a proposed sewerage scheme at Rathangan under the serviced land initiative. The council subsequently requested the inclusion of the scheme as a major capital project in the water services investment programme where it would attract a higher level of departmental funding.
The proposal was ranked fourth in the list of wastewater schemes submitted by Kildare County Council in November 2003 in response to my Department's request to all local authorities to undertake fresh assessments of the needs for capital works in their areas 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 2004-2006 published in May 2004. In view of the priority afforded to the scheme by the council, it has not been possible to include it in the programme. However, the approval of the scheme under the serviced land initiative remains in place.