Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle agus leis an Aire. Táimid ag díriú isteach arís ar chúrsaí infreastruchtúir nó, níos cirte a rá, easpa infreastruchtúir i nGaillimh, sa chathair, sa chontae, An Cheathrú Rua san áireamh agus go háirithe ó thaobh cúrsaí séarachais de. Tá an easpa bhunúsach seo ag cur isteach go mór mór ar a thuilleadh forbartha agus ar chúrsaí tithíochta agus tá gá práinneach le beart stuama ó Uisce Éireann faoi stiúir agus fhís an Rialtais chun é seo a chinntiú.

Unfortunately, my question today once again focuses on the inadequate capacity in the existing wastewater collection treatment network in the Galway metropolitan area, including Merlin Park, Oranmore and Barna. An Cheathrú Rua has absolutely no wastewater treatment plant. This lack of basic infrastructure is preventing development in Galway, even though it has been chosen as one of the cities where the population will grow to 120,000. That simply cannot happen. It is empty rhetoric to talk about growing Galway and about balanced regional development, not just in the region but in the city and the county. It is utterly empty rhetoric. It cannot happen. Planning permissions are being stalled.

The wastewater treatment plant on Mutton Island was upgraded in 2014 and 2016. It has plenty of capacity. The kernel of the problem is the collection network going into it. We have a serious problem in Merlin Park. There is no storage facility in the pumping station there. There is a serious problem in Oranmore, which is connected to Merlin Park, and also a serious problem in Barna. All of this has been recognised for a very long time, going back to 2007. There are two pipes, or siphons, going under the estuary of the Corrib and bringing wastewater from the east of the city. A survey in mid-April of this year found that the larger of the two existing pipes on the estuary of the River Corrib, exactly where I live, has structural defects and is "at risk of collapse at any time". What is needed is a new 750 mm pipe. That was identified back in 2007. All the defects were identified by the city council, which did a good job. It applied for funding but did not get it because Irish Water was being set up. We have left Irish Water without vision, without resources and without any direction.

I am a proud Galwegian. I do not want to talk down my city. I want to talk it up. We have natural beauty and every possibility. We should be running with light rail to ease the transport problems. We should be acknowledging the serious defects in the wastewater treatment network that are allowing raw sewage in through the storm overflows on a regular basis. I will come back to that in my second contribution. I am asking the Minister, if he does not know the details, to acknowledge what I am saying, acknowledge the empty rhetoric and take a hands-on approach to correcting the defects.

I thank the Deputy for raising a very important matter. It is one that has public health dimensions to it, environmental dimensions and also development and housing dimensions. I will not pretend for a moment that I am in any way an expert on the intricacies of the wastewater infrastructure deficits and challenges the Deputy and her constituents face in Galway. If she does not mind, I will speak at a slightly higher level. I am happy to raise the issue with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien.

I always see the challenges in regard to our drinking water and our wastewater infrastructure in the three ways I mentioned. There are thousands of homes in this country in which people are still operating under a boil water notice. By consuming their own water, they put their health at risk. That is relevant to those on the public water network and also to those who have drilled their own wells and are reliant on that supply. There is also a significant environmental impact on our river and coastal water quality. This has a real economic knock-on effect in terms of the conversation about the maintenance of the nitrates derogation and the importance that water quality will play in the determination the EU makes as to whether that derogation is extended. As the Deputy said, ultimately, the issue has a very significant development element as well. If we are not putting in place the sort of infrastructure we need to deal with the needs of new homes, then new homes cannot be built. I fully agree with her on the importance of regional balance. As a proud Dubliner, I do not want to see our entire country weighed around Dublin and the surrounding area. I strongly believe that our regional cites, including Galway, Waterford, Limerick and Cork, must be allowed to grow and must be given the key infrastructure to permit their development. Water is absolutely fundamental to that.

The current Uisce Éireann investment programme amounts to just over €5 billion. In my area, I have seen the positive outcome of that in terms of Irish Water taking this function away from the local authorities and implementing regional solutions to issues to do with drainage and wastewater. Its next set of investment plans will be set out next year. Where the Deputy and I might agree is that more investment is needed in this area. As we look at the NDP and available capital funds, for the environmental, public health and housing benefits it will bring, further investment in Irish Water to allow it to undertake and expand its role is hugely valuable.

I am glad the Minister is here as leader of the Green Party and a Green Party Minister. I just want him to hear what I am actually saying. One of the two main pipes taking sewage through the estuary of the Corrib out to Mutton Island is in imminent danger of collapse.

Can the Minister imagine what that means for the area alone, for health and for housing? Back in 2007, it was recognised that we needed a new siphon or a new pipe; nothing has happened. Back in 2009, it was recognised that we needed a new wastewater treatment plant on the east of the city to allow for the development of the Ardaun corridor and other developments; nothing has happened. Storm water overflows were brought into acute focus when the EPA made a site visit to Oranmore last year. It was inspecting an outflow as a result of an electricity outage, and what did it find? There were 70 recorded incidences not reported to the EPA of sewage going into the water in less than six months. They were discovered as a result of a site visit.

Let us stop the empty rhetoric about development and growing Galway city without the basic infrastructure, let us recognise the problem and let us have some leadership and vision in that regard. The Minister tells me about his goodwill. I appreciate that but I spent 17 years of my life at local authority level and saw the money applied for, recognising the faults that were there, while the Government was busy setting up Irish Water and then not giving it any steer or resources, a hands-off approach-----

Thank you, Deputy.

I am not used to being over time. I apologise.

I am appealing to the Minister. This is my second time in the space of three months to raise this. I will keep raising it. If the Minister does nothing else today, I ask him to say the Government hears me and will meet with Irish Water in relation to an immediate plan for Galway city and its environs, including An Cheathrú Rua, which has no wastewater treatment plant and where the sewage is going straight into the sea.

I absolutely hear the Deputy's valid concerns about the risks here, particularly in respect of those two pipes, the structural integrity of one and the risks there, as identified by the EPA. I am happy to bring those concerns forward. I think the investment Irish Water has undertaken nationally and the investment it will be able to undertake with additional capital funding will allow the immediate environmental and public health risks the Deputy has highlighted to be addressed. The investment will also allow for the necessary water infrastructure to be put in place to enable the level of development the Deputy and I both want to see across Galway to be maintained and enhanced. I am happy to speak to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, directly about this issue and I will note that Deputy Connolly has raised it now on a number of occasions in the House.