Sinn Féin TD for Galway East, Louis O’Hara, has said that delays in the delivery of wastewater infrastructure is holding up the delivery of housing across Galway. In Mountbellew 60 homes which have planning permission cannot progress until the new system is in place there, while long-promised schemes in Craughwell and Clarinbridge are no closer to delivery.
Raising this issue with Minister for Public Expenditure & Infrastructure, Jack Chambers, O’Hara called on Government to accelerate delivery of this infrastructure.
Speaking in the Dáil, he said there are now in excess of 60 houses on different sites in Mountbellew that have been granted planning permission with the condition that these homes cannot be occupied until they are connected to the upgraded Mountbellew wastewater treatment plant.
“But there is still no clarity on when construction on the plant will begin.
“In Craughwell and Clarinbridge, funding was announced for wastewater upgrades three years ago, but there has been no progress on these projects.
“As the Minister knows, we have a serious barrier to delivery of that infrastructure because the Department has told Galway County Council that it is expected to make a co-funding contribution of at least €2 million towards those projects,” he added.
Deputy O’Hara said that this is money that the council has not budgeted for and that he has raised this matter with the Minister a number of times.
“It needs to be addressed. There are many more towns and villages I could mention where we do not have capacity and where there are no plans for investment.”
O’Hara asked what the Government is doing to accelerate delivery of this infrastructure and ensure that badly needed homes can be built.
In response Minister Chambers said he would request updates on the schemes mentioned. He said Government are making efforts to increase the funding to Irish Water and reforming processes to speed up delivery of infrastructure.
