I welcome the programme for Government proposals that we ensure Irish Water prioritises the delivery of the small towns and villages programme. What I am concerned about is that this is not being fed down to Irish Water. Take Aughrim in County Wicklow, for example. No housing developments have been built in more than a decade due to the water plant being at full capacity. Recent correspondence with Irish Water stated clearly that the project is currently not forecasted to progress to construction until 2029. If this is the case, it will have a detrimental effect on the social fabric of the town, leading to no houses for young families and lower school numbers. Sports clubs will struggle and businesses will simply fail. Cases such as Aughrim, Kilanerin and Camolin are being replicated in towns and villages throughout Ireland. I call on Irish Water to urgently look at cases such as Aughrim, and where possible, to upgrade existing facilities or expedite the construction of new plants.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of Aughrim. He has raised with me in the past the need for further investment in water in his constituency and the issues that the lack of that investment is having at the moment. I know the Irish Water plan currently sits with the regulator and it is currently being evaluated. The issues to which the Deputy referred are the reason we need to make more money available to Irish Water. I know the Ministers, Deputies O'Brien and Chambers, are aware of that, as are the Tánaiste and Taoiseach. We will be doing our best in the coming months to make that funding available because, without it, we cannot deliver the homes we need, we cannot support the businesses in the way they want and we cannot meet the needs of communities that are growing. The Deputy has provided another example of the further work we need to fund Irish Water to do.