8. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps his Department is taking to deliver the extra funding identified by local authorities, his Department and Uisce Éireann, as being necessary to deliver the measure 8 rural water programme; when that funding might be forthcoming; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35594/25]

Sentiment score: 0.01

The lack of wastewater treatment is highlighted as one of the biggest blockages in the delivery of Government housing targets. In 2022, the Minister announced €50 million under the rural water programme to deliver treatment systems in towns and villages that are not serviced. Three years on, none of these projects have begun. Will the Minister distribute these funds to any local authority that has sites ready to move to design and delivery and which has committed in writing to match funding for the projects? Will he ensure that any shortfall in the overall funding from the scheme will be forthcoming from the Department in future?

Sentiment score: 0.13

I understand from speaking to colleagues from other counties involved in this scheme that some are much further along in the process than others. I know that Clare County Council can progress if the Department confirms funding for the two projects in Broadford and Cooraclare. These two settlements have demonstrated significant commitment to the proposal of public treatment systems. I asked Clare County Council whether it had confirmed in writing to the Department that the matched funding requirement is available and it has done so. It would appear that some local authorities, and the towns and villages they propose, are being held up because other counties may not have been able to proceed for whatever reason. It is not acceptable in the middle of a housing crisis that a scheme with public moneys allocated for more than three years for vital public infrastructure is being managed in this way.

Sentiment score: 0.06

In the Minister of State's own words, the housing crisis is an emergency. The lack of a treatment system in towns and villages is one of the causes of this emergency, yet the money to develop such systems in towns and villages that are not serviced has been sitting in the Department's bank account for the past three years. The county council is clearly committed to delivering this scheme in two towns in Clare. They could be a demonstration for others, as once one county gets under way, others will follow. This is my belief. The alternative is to backtrack on the commitment given by the Minister of State's predecessor, destroy any hope the communities in Broadford and Cooraclare have of a treatment system, and accept that rural towns and villages do not matter and cannot contribute to a solution to the housing crisis. This would be outrageous. Will the Minister of State begin the distribution of the funds from this scheme to local authorities such as Clare County Council, which are committed to delivering this scheme? It is vital infrastructure for those villages that do not have it.

Sentiment score: -0.11