I highlight the lack of vital infrastructure projects in County Kerry. We have been waiting for many years for these projects, despite promises year after year. The village of Kilcummin has been waiting at least 15 years. A project was promised several times but the road to the village has been delayed for at least ten years because we have been told repeatedly that the sewerage scheme will be constructed the following year. Scartaglen was third in line for a project back in 2008. The village does not have a sewerage treatment plant and nor does Currow. The county council is drawing sewage in Currow into an old tank and bringing it to the treatment plant in Killarney. Castlecove, beside the sea, has no treatment plant either and nor do the towns and villages of Caherdaniel, Kilmoyley, Knockanure, Cromane, Beaufort and Currans.

We are also waiting for sewerage plants to be upgraded, including the one in Kenmare. It is possible to get planning permission to build a house in the town, but then it is stated that commencement of the building work will have to wait until the sewerage treatment plant has been upgraded. Similar treatment plants in Glenbeigh, Abbeydorney, which is in a shocking state, Kilflynn and Rossbeigh also need to be upgraded. Castleisland, meanwhile, has been waiting for an extension to the sewer for 33 years. One third of the town is not connected to the sewer. That is the honest truth. In the kind of weather we are experiencing now, people with septic tanks have to empty them once a month.

The rural water programme was to be put in place to bring us from 2019 to 2022. We are still waiting for that to happen and this year is nearly gone. A contractor is in place in Glenflesk, finally, but we are waiting for approval from the Minister's Department to sanction the €1.3 million needed for the project to progress. When we put all of those projects on a list, it is shocking to see the way that Kerry has been let down over the years. This involves the Government and Irish Water, but the commitment needs to come from the Government. There is a Minister with responsibility for the environment and we are talking about the environment and protecting it every day. Kerry has been let down in this regard. Many of the villages I named are falling down because they cannot expand. It is not possible to get planning permission. Scartaglen, a grand village in the middle of everywhere, is zoned but people cannot get planning permission for a development there because there is no public sewerage system. I ask the Tánaiste to do something about this situation.

The Deputy knows only too well that I am not going to approve sewage schemes for individual villages in Kerry during Leaders' Questions.

Go on.

We have been talking about this inside here-----

If the Deputy would listen----

-----and I am entitled, as a representative of the people of Kerry, to raise this matter.

The Deputy is entitled to raise it and I have not said otherwise. I am stating that I am not in a position to sanction expenditure on individual programmes. That is not how politics works.

That is not what was said.

How politics works now is that we now have Irish Water. It is planning to spend €1.9 billion on wastewater projects in the next five years. About €10 billion has been spent over the last two decades on water infrastructure generally and we need to continue to spend heavily so that villages, such as those mentioned, can grow and expand if that is appropriate from a planning and zoning perspective. We need to work with and talk to Irish Water regarding how it prioritises expenditure to ensure we are facilitating the right types of developments in the rights parts of the country where there is housing demand. That conversation is ongoing between the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, his Department and Irish Water to ensure we can deliver on the capital plans needed in Ireland. Those plans have to be consistent with the national planning framework and Project Ireland 2040.

We will have to accommodate between 1 million and 1.5 million more people in the Republic of Ireland in the next two decades. That requires the building of many houses, as well as other infrastructure. Irish Water needs to be part of those discussions in Kerry as well as other parts of the country, and it will be. Irish Water is already undertaking a significant capital investment programme. It will be possible for it to do that in a more efficient way than it was done in the past through local authorities because of economies of scale. That is how these decisions are made now. If Deputy Danny Healy-Rae wants to send me individual requests, we can try to revert to him with answers from Irish Water.

I do not apologise to anyone for raising this matter today. Irish Water will state that it is only obliged to bring its existing treatment plants up to an acceptable standard. The company will tell me, others and the local authority that it has no obligation to build new treatment plants. That is where we are. I ask the Tánaiste to talk to Irish Water about that. He is the Tánaiste of the country and Deputy Eoghan Murphy is the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government.

How are people in places like Kilcummin, Scartaglen and all of the places I named previously going to prosper? How are they going to build houses if there are no sewage treatment plants? That is a fact. Caherdaniel and Castlecove welcome thousands of tourists every year. Tourism is the only business in the area and these places do have not have treatment plants. The local authority tells us that there is no obligation to build new treatment plants, only an obligation to bring the ones in place up to an acceptable standard. At the same time, the plants in Kenmare, Glenbeigh and even Killarney need to be upgraded. There is a lack of funding and a lack of will to ensure the provision of vital infrastructure that is so badly needed in our county.

I know some of the towns and villages mentioned by the Deputy well, in particular Caherdaniel. It is one of the most beautiful parts of this island. Irish Water has to prioritise how and where it spends funds. Sometimes that means investing in upgrading existing facilities and at other times it will mean the construction of a brand new treatment plant. It has to prioritise those areas with pressures for developments. It will spend close to €2 billion in the next four or five years on wastewater treatment facilities. That is a significant amount of money and I expect there will be significant expenditure in County Kerry. Money will also be spent in other parts of the country. I could name many rural villages that need new wastewater treatment facilities.

Unfortunately, we did not see investment by local authorities when they were in charge of water systems. That was because they did not have money in many cases. We now have a different system of delivery which is more efficient and makes more sense. It is going to take time to address much of the infrastructure that is not fit for purpose. There have been many good examples of investment by Irish Water that has been effective and has facilitated significant development. There must be an ongoing discussion between Irish Water and the Department so we have consistency between the national planning framework and water investment.

A snail going to Jerusalem would travel faster than the speed at which we are making progress with this.