Funding is set to be approved this week by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien to assist villages to upgrade waste water treatment systems.
In April of last year, the minister announced a new funding measure, under the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme, for the waste water collection and treatment needs of villages and settlements that do not have access to public waste water services.
Funding of €50 million has been specifically allocated to this measure. The first round of funding is intended to follow a demonstration project model approach to inform future funding needs that will provide appropriate longer-term solutions, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said.
All rural local authorities were asked to submit a maximum of two suitable priority applications each for this funding measure. A total of 23 individual applications, from 13 local authorities, were received before the closing date of September 15, 2022.
An independent expert panel has evaluated each application received, and the department told Agriland that the minister plans to announce approval of funding for specific projects in the coming week.
The funding was alluded to in the Dáil by Minister of State at the department Malcolm Noonan, in a debate on septic tanks on Thursday (November 9).
Green Party TD for Wicklow Steven Matthews raised the issue of houses with private septic tanks that were once in rural areas, but are now closer to water treatment infrastructure as local towns and villages have expanded.
Matthews said: “I am aware that in rural areas there is no choice but to have a septic tank and it is important that we assist people as much as possible to fix those tanks.
“However, another situation has arisen that I have raised with the department and the minister previously. We have urban areas that were once rural. A town has grown and enveloped what was once a rural area.
“We have houses in my town, Bray, and I am sure in many towns in the constituencies of other deputies, which are still on septic tanks, although there is a mains network nearby,” Matthews said.
He added: “It is expensive for householders to pay for the infrastructure to be brought to the house. They do not have any problem with paying the connection fee, like everyone else, but that infrastructure can be quite large.”
Matthews asked Minister Noonan if there is a scheme available under which people whose houses were once in rural area could be assisted to connect to a mains system which may now be close to their homes.
In response, Minister Noonan (also a member of the Green Party) said that funding would be announced next week to upgrade water treatment systems in villages.
“The deputy made a valid point about urban areas that have grown into rural areas where there are one-off houses that now need to be connected. It is a priority for Uisce Éireann. The Minister will announced a new scheme next week for villages to upgrade systems. That is vital.
“We often hear from deputies in the [Dáil] about areas, particularly rural areas, where there are challenges around waste water treatment. It is a priority for the government in respect of funding Uisce Éireann and the work it has to carry out,” Minister Noonan added.