I thank the Deputies for bringing forward this motion. It is an extremely important one. I will focus on the small towns and villages programme. On 6 November last, Uisce Éireann appeared before the Committee of Public Accounts and stated that, in revenue control 3, €98 million was allocated to that programme. This began 243 projects across the country, seven of them in Cork. Does the Minister of State know how many of these have been completed since 2022? Four have been completed. The fact it takes seven to ten years to deliver a wastewater treatment plant is staggering. I am no expert, but it is staggering. The local authorities were asked at that time to fill in a priority list for their own council. Cork County Council has responsibility for a village in my constituency, Carrignavar, which is No. 13 on the list. To be fair to the local authority, it could choose village after village for the programme. I was informed at the Committee of Public Accounts that the small towns and villages programme was predicated on growth. To me, that does not make sense and I will tell the House why. Growth in an area is based on the building of housing in line with infrastructure from Government. As my colleague said, if we do not have the infrastructure, we cannot build the houses. I met a group of residents in Carrignavar a number of months ago. It is a great village. It has a new primary school and it is to be hoped there will be an extension to the secondary school, along with a chosen location for a new special school. It has huge potential to grow, but it cannot. Growth is the underlying issue for Carrignavar. As I said, if we do not have the infrastructure, we cannot grow. Housing, as the Minister of State knows, is the generational issue of our time. Housing cannot be built in Carrignavar because of the inability of Uisce Éireann to build infrastructure. Only four out of 243 projects have been completed through the small town and villages programme. It is a failed programme.

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