Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get the opportunity to raise with the Minister of State this evening the question of funding for two estates that lie together on the top Aghadoe - Birch Hill and Old Killarney Village. There is a problem with the sewerage systems, for which planning permission was granted. Kerry County Council has cited problems with this going back almost ten years. In 2020, funding was given by the Department of 75% of the cost; €401,000 was given at that time, leaving a shortfall of €135,000. Those figures were based on a certain route the sewer was to take from the two estates down to the public system, which goes into the Killarney treatment plant. That route could not be attained; there were problems with the wayleaves. Since then, the Minister of State will appreciate that costs have gone up. That was in 2020 and it is now 2024. A new, longer route that is more costly was identified. The cost is more than €1.3 million. On 21 June last, the longest day of the year, the Department of housing and local government committed to making €992,673 available, leaving 25% of the cost, €330,891, to be funded from local contributions, the details of which will have to be discussed with Uisce Éireann. Who will make up the shortfall? The householders cannot be asked for a contribution because they have already paid for their houses and the treatment plant, which they were told by Kerry County Council was adequate because it signed off on it. Uisce Éireann is already struggling outside of this. It does not have the funding. The council does not have the funding either. Where will the shortfall come from? If the Government is serious about addressing this problem, will it make up the shortfall? There are problems there with smells and pollution that will unavoidably finish up in the lakes of Killarney, which are important to our tourism product. It is going on long enough; it is waiting to be addressed for more than ten years. If €330,000 is not found, will the Government make up the shortfall? There is nowhere we can get the money in Kerry for it. Like I said, the householders cannot be asked. Uisce Éireann is struggling as it is. It was in the headlines today that it is in trouble all over the country. Kerry County Council does not have the funding either.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who would like to thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and providing an opportunity to address the matter. As he knows, a small number of estates rely on developer-provided water services infrastructure, commonly referred to as DPI, for their water services. They mainly consist of wastewater treatment facilities but a small number provide drinking water services for the estates concerned. The majority of estates with DPI were constructed between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s. The infrastructure was provided by the developer of the estate and is not connected to the public water services network. It is important to state that DPI is privately owned and these are legacy issues. This applies to the case the Deputy raised. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is supporting the resolution o the DPI issue in the Birch Hill and Old Killarney Village estates by providing cofunding, as the Deputy acknowledged, through its multi-annual developer-provided water services infrastructure resolution programme. The terms of the multi-annual programme are based on cofunding to support local authorities in their obligations to take in charge residential estates. The framework documentation for the multi-annual programme provided to local authorities clearly sets out the details, terms and conditions of the funding available. Under the cofunding arrangement, the Department meets 75% of the cost and the remaining 25% is met by the local authority. To the Deputy's specific question, that shortfall has to come from the local authority under this scheme. The planning authorities, which are the city and county councils, are subject to section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. They are obliged to take residential estates in charge. Funding under the multi-annual programme is a significant contribution - 75% - to assist them in doing so.

It is important to note that the cofunding arrangement under the multi-annual programme has enabled local authorities in locations across the country to successfully resolve issues like this. In 2020, under this programme, Kerry County Council was allocated funding for a solution to resolve the DPI issues in the Old Killarney Village and Birch Hill estates. The Deputy cited the figure of €401,000 for that. As he said, costs have increased and a new solution has been found.

While no progress has been made to date on the resolution of the developer-provided infrastructure, DPI, in these estates, the council has been actively working on the preparatory processes.

The Department and Kerry County Council have engaged in recent months on the matter of these two estates. As the Deputy said, on the longest day of the year last month, the Department provided Kerry County Council with a budget increase to the original allocation to reflect the construction inflation and, as the Deputy outlined, a revised approach to connection of the water services in the estates to the public Uisce Éireann network. This more than doubles that allocation. It brings the co-funding provided up to €992,000 to allow the council to resolve the DPI issues in these two estates. That is the figure cited by the Deputy and, as he has said, it is 75% of the cost. That is correct under the co-funding arrangement. Under co-funding, 25% is to come from the local authority. The Department is fully committed to resolving the DPI issues both nationally and in County Kerry. This is why €992,000 is being provided by the Department towards this necessary work.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. Senior engineers with Kerry County Council, Tadhg Meehan, Paul Neary and Charlie O’Leary, technical engineers like Freddie Bartlett and Mike Downey, and several others have invested an awful lot of time trying to resolve this issue. When I hear the Minister of State saying that it is up to the local authorities to make up the shortfall, I have to explain to her about the contradiction. Our local authorities were informed on 18 April 2024 that, as and from 1 January 2024, Uisce Éireann has been assigned responsibility for the remediation of DPI infrastructure, which actually absolves the local authorities. It is written there but I see the Minister of State shaking her head. Where are the local authorities going to get the funding? They do not have it. The residents are very good residents who have done a lot of work there. There is also a pub and a restaurant in the middle of these estates. A lot of work has been done as they work together to try to eradicate the problems as much as they can.

The serious issue remains, however and, to solve the problem, they have to connect to the Killarney public treatment plant. To do that we are now being told that €1.3 million is the cost and they are providing €992,000. Where is the other €330,000 to come from? The residents clearly do not have it. There are 69 households and 90% of these residents have families. We all know the pressure families are under at present with the cost of transport, the cost of living and the cost of everything. They do not have money to make up this €330,000.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, for his comments and his commitment to resolving these legacy issues with facilities built by developers to provide water services in housing estates. I acknowledge the hard work and the efforts of the engineers listed by the Deputy.

The Minister introduced the multi-annual developer-provided water services infrastructure resolution programme to provide funding towards the progressive resolution of these issues. The Deputy is correct that Uisce Éireann does have a role to play when it comes to the connection of water services but there is a role and responsibility for local authorities here too. Funding is available under the multi-annual programme to assist in resolving DPI issues in the Old Killarney Village and the Birch Hill estates. A total of €900,000 plus has already been provided to resolve this issue for these two estates. That is 75% of the cost. That is what the Department will be providing. The funding arrangements made available under the programme are for co-funding. This is what the Department co-funds with the local authority to support the local authority in its obligations with regard to the taking in charge of residential estates. The 25% does fall to the local authority.