I raise the serious concerns people have in Dundalk and north Louth in particular regarding Uisce Éireann. We have huge deficits when it comes to water infrastructure. Wastewater treatment plants are over capacity and are not working to purpose. We have brown water constantly in Dundalk and all over north Louth, where people cannot wash their clothes. Their clothes are actually dirtier after the wash. After years of engaging with Uisce Éireann in good faith, we are getting nowhere as public representatives in County Louth. Toilet paper and foul waste are being washed onto the shores in County Louth, in Carlingford Lough and Dundalk Bay. It is really a time of crisis at the minute. Toilet paper is present and it is not safe to bathe in Blackrock at the minute. It is not only an environmental and personal risk but a huge blockage to house building in County Louth.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, which is obviously of huge concern to those in County Louth, in Carlingford and Dundalk. The additional investment in Irish Water, or Uisce Éireann, is a key priority for the next national development plan for clean water but also for housing supply. We will be ring-fencing quite substantial capital allocations for housing supply but also, as is clearly needed judging by the issues the Deputy has instanced, in wastewater treatment. One of the challenges with wastewater treatment is that there are inevitably a series of objections at all levels, right up to appeals and judicial reviews, which significantly slow down the advancement of wastewater treatment plants, even though these plants substantially enhance the environment and clean the water.