14. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if the Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026 will apply to wastewater projects irrespective of their scale or geographic location; if he will consider a programme-level designation for wastewater treatment infrastructure across the country rather than limiting fast-track status to individual large-scale projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40521/26]

Sentiment score: -0.10

Many towns and villages lack adequate wastewater treatment, with a significant number discharging raw sewage every day. The planning process is one aspect where long delays can occur in the delivery of wastewater treatment plants. Given the huge issues we have with water quality and our failure to comply with EU legislation, will the Minister consider a national designation for all wastewater treatment plants across the country, regardless of their size, under the Critical Infrastructure Bill?

Sentiment score: -0.11

I thank the Minister. I have to be direct with him. Wastewater treatment is named in the Government's own Bill as critical infrastructure. Logic dictates, then, that individual rural schemes should not have to make their own separate case for designation under the Bill. As far as I am concerned, they should all be included. The communities I represent in County Clare are not asking for special treatment. They are asking that a common application of this Bill will be applied to them. A programme-level designation for outstanding wastewater schemes, regardless of their scale, would cost the Exchequer nothing and could profoundly affect the delivery timeline. Can the Minister give this serious reconsideration? Will he reconsider that all these small schemes be included.

Sentiment score: 0.03

I thank the Minister. Again, this question is not about Uisce Éireann’s capital programme. It is about whether the Minister will look at the current status of wastewater treatment as a national scandal, one that has huge negative consequences for the environment and all our communities, whether rural, coastal or urban. The Minister accepts that wastewater is critical infrastructure. All that remains is for him to determine whether a large project in a city has more virtue than a smaller one in rural communities. I hope he will also give that consideration. It is about the Government using its own Bill to put the solution to this problem front and centre. It would be a significant statement of our commitment to finally take this problem seriously. If the Minister is not willing to give me a commitment to extend the programme-level designation to all wastewater projects regardless of scale or location today, maybe he would respond to me within three months with an update.

Sentiment score: 0.10