Bridge the funding gap for water services says Shorthall

By Naoise Coogan

A north Kilkenny councillor has called on the Environment Minister to bridge the funding gap that has arisen for the local authority to deal with water services for the county.

Cllr Maurice Shorthall asked Minister John Gormley, during a meeting with the members of Kilkenny Local Authorities this week, to provide the €20 million shortfall to the local authorities in order for them to proceed with their water services programme for the county.

“In our needs assessment it was noted that we need €68 million to proceed with improvement works that will see our water services meeting public safety and European environmental standards. We are securing €48 million from the Department but the shortfall, which would normally come from development contributions from housing developments in the county, is not available any more. There is a big shortfall of €20 million and I am asking the Minister to fill the funding gap just to keep the county out of court,” he said.

Minister Gormley said that there had been record investment in water services in the country despite the downturn .

“We have compliance issues within the EU and public health is a priority. I want to continue investment in this area and we won’t be seeing any significant cutbacks in this area in the future,” he added.

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