Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, published a report which found that only half of our sewage is being treated to EU standards and that over 2.5 million tonnes of raw sewage in 32 of our towns and villages is being pumped into our seas and rivers every year. Eight of those are in my home country. In 2015 I submitted a complaint to the European Commission about the State's failure to deliver a sewerage scheme in my home town of Gaoth Dobhair. The Commission took infringement proceedings against the State as a result. Seven years later, after many missed and changed deadlines, the main scheme has not started, with the only demonstration scheme now being completed. Many of the areas that have been outlined in the EPA report will not be connected to treatment plants until the second half of the decade, with raw sewage continuing to be pumped into our seas and rivers. We need action to get to grips with these failures. What assurances can the Minister give these communities that this will be addressed and in a timely manner and that the deadlines that are set down, which are more than often extended or missed by Irish Water, will not be missed?

The most important assurance is that the money is available. It is a pity that I did not get a chance to bring in the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The key thing we need to do is a ten-year programme with a figure like the €1.6 billion. That is as well as the money spent on housing, education, health, transport and all the other areas.

The public payment of those sorts of sums year in, year out in a systematic way is the only way. You cannot magic it up without having the budget. The key comprises the national development plan and the large, continuous, multi-annual programmes of work so there can be efficiencies in how Irish Water deploys its resources. I know the area in Gaoth Dobhair. It is such a beautiful location. It is a rural area with a large population, so it needs the resources. However, so too does every other area in the country. The best way of guaranteeing the resources is guaranteeing the money.