Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply and taking a hands-on approach. I am afraid my praise stops at this point because we will discuss sludge.

It is very difficult to make out what is happening in Galway. We have a water treatment plan, which is good. It is working and it is fine, but there has been no upgrading of anything since 2006. I have a reply from the Minister of State setting out, I presume, a reply from Uisce Éireann. I also have a contribution to the public accounts committee, to which I will return. Somewhere, there is a serious misunderstanding or misinformation - I do not know which; I am no expert. I will try to be as clear as I can, notwithstanding that we are talking about sludge.

We have an EPA report and there is an ongoing open investigation into Uisce Éireann in Galway city. We might think progress is being made, but there cannot be balanced regional development in our city or county without infrastructure. Níl aon bhunstruchtúr i gCarraroe. Tá an séarachas amh ag dul isteach san uisce leis na blianta. I will mention Carraroe for the record. Things have been going straight into the water for years. The wrong site was picked. In fairness to Uisce Éireann, it inherited that from the county council, but it did not change the project and instead went ahead with it until it could not proceed any more because someone else got planning permission on the site. There was daft and blind behaviour – I take the word "blind" back. There was silly behaviour.

We will stick to Galway city. The EPA has an open investigation. In June last year, there was an outage in the Oranmore pump station and the EPA went to check it when it was reported. The EPA found 70 overflows into the water that were never reported to it. It has an open compliance investigation in place. On 70 occasions, there have been overflows. It is concerned that these overflows and discharges are things other than stormwater and so on. The duration and quantity of those overflows are not known and there is the potential for pollution.

There are pump stations in Oranmore and Merlin Park and there is a wastewater treatment plant. The collection service, including those pump stations, is not fit for purpose. Uisce Éireann has come back to the Minister of State to say, more or less, that it is dealing with these things and what has been stated is not accurate. The only application is for Merlin Park. There is nothing in respect of Oranmore.

Mr. Sean Laffey, in his evidence to the public accounts committee, stated: "The siphons under the River Corrib are not at risk of collapse. We have had them surveyed." Part of that is correct. One is not at risk of collapse, but the other is.

I have a report here from McBreen Environmental, which is well recognised. I will quote from it so that there is no risk of misunderstanding. It refers to best practice in regard to a pipe – we are making the assumption that it is one of the two siphons. Uisce Éireann had a chance to clarify that, but did not do so. I want to pay tribute to An Taisce, which has done tremendous work to get these reports. The McBreen Environmental report states that best practice suggests this pipe is at risk of collapse at any time and urgent consideration should be given to repairs to avoid total failure.

Regarding the Bearna pumping station, Uisce Éireann is telling the Minister of State it is no longer tankering and that it only tankered for a little while. It is still tankering, but now with sludge. It has been pointed out to me that Uisce Éireann does not have permission to do that. It is not fitting in with the sludge plan and none of this has been reported to the EPA.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I thank Deputy Connolly. I will read the script I have been provided and then come back in with some other responses. I wrote to Deputy Connolly last week on foot of a question on policy or legislation to the Taoiseach.

The supply of public water and provision of water services in general are matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. The Minister has no function with regard to Uisce Éireann’s specific operations.

I have, however, made inquiries on the Deputy's behalf and have been informed by Uisce Éireann that a significant investment programme in Galway, which has led to brand new wastewater treatment plants and infrastructure in An Spidéal and Ahascragh, has resulted in the elimination of raw sewage discharges. A €13 million upgrade of the wastewater network infrastructure in Athenry was completed in 2024, reducing the risk of sewer flooding and addressing non-compliant sewer overflows into the River Clarin. Planned upgrades for Mountbellew and Eyrecourt will be progressed through the current and future investment cycles subject to approval and planning. Uisce Éireann is also progressing projects to upgrade wastewater pumping stations at Bearna, Oranmore and Merlin Park. These are currently progressing through the planning and delivery process.

With regard to the existing pipes under the estuary, Uisce Éireann has completed a survey of the siphons under the River Corrib and can confirm they are not at risk of collapse. A local structural issue was identified and this was fixed through planned capital maintenance works earlier this year. Uisce Éireann is also addressing historic defects in the sewer network in Galway. The drainage area plan for Galway developed by Uisce Éireann will drive major network refurbishment across the catchment, which includes Bearna and Oranmore.

Galway has been Ireland’s most rapidly developing urban area for over half a century and is a key driver for the west of Ireland, with a projected 40% increase of its population in the period 2022 to 2040. As a result of this growth, the wastewater infrastructure is challenged to keep pace with the increased demand for new serviced land for housing, commercial developments and industry. On Thursday 26 September, Uisce Éireann launched an eight-week public consultation on a long-term plan to ensure the adequate provision of wastewater services for Galway city and parts of Galway county. The strategy aims to support future growth of the city and region. The 50-year Galway wastewater strategy will address all wastewater treatment and network infrastructure for the Galway metropolitan, Athenry and Moycullen areas to determine what upgrades are required to meet the future needs of the population. This will take into account economic development, environmental changes and climate change.

This critical strategy will have a significant benefit for current and future generations living and working in Galway. It will set out how we envisage wastewater services and infrastructure will be provided to homes and businesses over the next 50 years. Uisce Éireann is consulting with a wide range of stakeholders to progress this comprehensive assessment of all existing infrastructure and is asking members of the public to have their say in future development and how these essential services are managed and delivered.

Deputy Connolly mentioned a second pipe under the River Corrib. It is not in my reply but we can certainly ask Uisce Éireann to investigate that. I was not aware of that pipe. The Deputy also mentioned the tankering of-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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There are two siphons under the Corrib and we are saying one of them has been reported as defective.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I will ask Uisce Éireann to investigate that. The tankering of sewerage is unacceptable in this day and age. We have a way forward here in terms of the longer-term plan. I mentioned the 2025-29 investment cycle in my response to Deputy Cairns. That will be critically important. We took questions from Deputy Connolly last night on housing development in Galway. This issue will hinder housing development unless we have the adequate infrastructure that is future-proofed and meets the requirements of what will be a recast of the urban wastewater treatment directive. There are quite significant opportunities and challenges here and it is critically important that we get them right.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his comments. This is of critical importance because the growth of Galway, which I believe should be done in a sustainable way, cannot happen. The population is not growing at the rate expected because of the failure to remediate defective infrastructure. I heard the Minister of State say he will go back to Irish Water. I wish him good luck because Irish Water has given many responses and has told us at the public accounts committee that what I am raising is wrong and it is telling the Minister of State that it is wrong.

For the purpose of clarity, there are two siphons under the Corrib estuary. I am no expert. I am reading a report and I am no expert on that report but the people on the ground are experts. They have given me a copy of that report, which identifies one of the siphons as in imminent danger of collapse. Surely, that would be very simple to clarify. Either this is referring to another pipe or it is not referring to the siphons; I do not know. I could quote from the report again for the Minister of State but I will not do so. The person went to the public accounts committee and said that was not true but did not use those words. He said there was nothing wrong with the siphons and that it was a local issue. There is an open investigation by the EPA on Irish Water, particularly for Oranmore, but it is all interconnected. It is interconnected with the pumping station. The only live application is an application for the pump station in Merlin Park and that went in a year or two ago. It was then withdrawn on appeal because there was not enough information and it has since been resubmitted.

We are back here now and I am trying to get as much as possible into the four minutes I have, as is the Minister of State. I welcome the time I have been allocated. The information being given by Uisce Éireann is not open and transparent, however. I want to work with Irish Water, and with any Government, if we have the privilege of coming back here, but we cannot do that without an open and honest analysis of what the defects are on the ground and the plan to repair them. If we are spending our time saying this or that is not accurate, that is not one bit helpful for transparency, trust or belief in the system.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I have outlined the significant progress that has been made by Uisce Éireann in dealing with the deficits in Galway city and the wider area. I was not aware there were two siphons, as Deputy Connolly has said. My understanding from the response I gave the Deputy last week was that one had been addressed. We will ask Uisce Éireann.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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There are two siphons and one of them is the major one that has been highlighted.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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We will ask Uisce Éireann to come back with a more comprehensive reply on that, if that is of assistance to the Deputy. The opportunity that is there in terms of the public consultation on future needs is really important. It is important that the 2025-29 capital investment cycle identifies the needs for the growth of the greater Galway area and ensures they are included in the capital investment programme. Whatever Government is here after the next election, it is critically important that the investment cycle we have commenced and that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has committed to over the past five years in terms of Uisce Éireann and its needs continues. In fact, it needs to be ramped up significantly. I keep referring to the recast of the urban wastewater treatment directive. It will create much more onerous targets on Uisce Éireann to deliver the highest quality water and wastewater treatment.

If it is okay with the Deputy, we will try to come back with specific responses on that.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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To be helpful, could the Minister of State come back with commentary on the reports that have been carried out for Uisce Éireann, including the one I mentioned and all other recent reports it has commissioned on this issue?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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We will request that.