A lack of public sewerage infrastructure is standing in the way of building new housing, Galway TD Sean Canney has said.
Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Canney said that there are many areas where people cannot get planning permission to build housing, due to a lack of wastewater treatment capacity.
He said that funding needs to be put in place to build out on this infrastructure in order to help address the housing crisis.
He said that during his time on the county council starting in 2005, there were multiple wastewater treatment plants which were meant to be built, but never came to fruition.
“Corofin, Abbeyknockmoy, Craughwell and the municipal wastewater treatment east of Galway city were on this list. None of them are anywhere at this stage.”
“There is a plethora of towns and villages where we could have people living but they cannot get permission to build houses because there is no wastewater treatment plant. These are the facts.”
“We talk about a housing crisis and emergency. It is all waffle if we do not do something about it,” Sean Canney said.
“It is important that we stop talking about it and put the necessary funding in place. We must direct Irish Water to do what needs to be done in this country.”
He added that the wastewater treatment plant in Athenry was recently expanded, but that it hasn’t made a difference yet, because estates have still not been connected to the public network.
A treatment plant on the east side of Galway City is also essential to the future development of the city, Sean Canney said.
“If we are serious about not having a ring road around Galway, let us build the city where we can have access to it. However, we cannot do it if we do not have the services.”
“It is very frustrating for public representatives because what we get is a load of feasibility studies and business costs analyses and reports and if you want to slow down, you ask for clarification and basically you end up doing nothing.”
