I was contacted regarding a site at Kingscourt in County Cavan.

It has been zoned for housing and has the ability to provide 50 to 60 new homes for Kingscourt. A construction company put together a planning application for the site and found out there is not sufficient capacity in the wastewater treatment plant for the town to allow any further development. It has been suggested that a temporary wastewater treatment plant be constructed on the site in the meantime, but that is so costly it would leave the development unfeasible. Uisce Éireann is a State-owned company. Has the Government been in negotiations or talks with it to see how it can escalate the provision of a wastewater treatment plant? This issue does not affect just Kingscourt, but many other towns in east Cavan and other counties. I tabled a parliamentary question but was told the Minister did not have a remit over this, which I find hard to understand. In the interests of providing more housing, which we know is needed, can we escalate the provision of wastewater treatment?

We have significantly increased investment in wastewater treatment plants since the Government was formed. Investment in wastewater treatment has been consistent over the years. I do not have the specific data on the progress of the one the Deputy identified in Cavan. The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, and his predecessor, the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, gave particular attention to the allocation to Uisce Éireann in respect of capital allocation to try to get these plants built more quickly. The Deputy is correct. There is a clear connection between that and getting housing developed.