asked the Minister for the Environment when he proposes to approve the contract documents for the Ballybofey/Stranorlar sewerage scheme, County Donegal.

The approval of this scheme must be considered in the context of the overall capital resources available to finance sanitary services and the need to conserve capital for schemes of the highest priority. The contract documents for this scheme are under consideration in my Department, but I cannot say when I will be in a position to convey a decision on them to the local authority.

In view of the very urgent nature of this scheme and that it can be established that raw sewage is going into the River Finn in the towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar can the Minister of State not agree to give this particular scheme some priority?

I accept that the documents have been in the Department for a very long time but I draw to the Deputy's attention the fact that the scheme is listed as No. 15 in the order of priority in Donegal County Council.

Is the Minister of State aware that the sewage in this area runs directly into the River Finn and is causing considerable damage to fish stocks?

I am not so aware and I would be very concerned if that is the case. I would be very happy to talk to the Deputy about how we can move on this thing which has obviously been in the Department for some time. If the members of Donegal County Council are anxious to contain it and are prepared to give it the kind of priority the two Deputies seem to signal it requires, then I would be more than happy to meet directly with them and discuss how best it can be implemented.