Funding for five water and sewerage projects
FIVE water and sewerage treatment plant upgrades in Co Kilkenny will proceed this year, but the others have been put on hold for the moment due to lack of funding.
Those that have been given the green light by Kilkenny County Council at this point include Gowran/ Goresbridge/ Paulstown water, Thomastown/ Inistioge water, Kilkenny City Regional Water Supply, Mooncoin Regional Water scheme, and water conservation works. These were selected because they are deemed to be the most urgent in terms of the environment and public health.
“We appealed to the Department of the Environment in April outlining a 60 million euro programme for Co Kilkenny,” county manager Joe Crockett explained at the council’s meeting on Monday. “If we were to go ahead, we would need to borrow 8.1 million (in order) for every project to be included.”
The council borrowed 8.5 million last year for water services projects, he added. “If we were to borrow money again, it would be almost 17 million and we would have to find 2 million euro to make those repayments, and clearly we haven’t got 2 million for repayments.”
For now, the department has agreed to defer the requirement that the council pay for a certain percentage of the cost; instead it giving the council a long-term, interest-free loan for the funding. The plan now is to borrow 1.4 million, rising to 3 million in 2015, which will mean cuts of 300,000 from the council’s revenue budget in due course.
The council is also “in continuing discussions with the department about other schemes that we believe we need for the county,” Mr Crockett said. He therefore suggested that no immediate decision be taken regarding the significant remaining water and sewerage projects that the council has planned. “Perhaps we can revisit the remaining projects in September,” the county manager said. “There may be new developments or we may be able to come to new funding arrangements that would enable us to proceed with some of these projects.”
He proposed to consider the funding again at the time of the council’s Estimates in November and December.
“For the present time, there is and there has been some examination as to whether new funding mechanisms will be brought forward,” he added. “We are just dependent on what happens at national level.”
Long-term
Members welcomed the deferral of the council’s payments for the projects but expressed concerns about the long-term effects of the funding setup.
“What is the point of borrowing money to pay a Government department?” asked Cllr Pat O’Neill (FG). Instead he said that the Government should be funding 100% of such vital infrastructure.
“I would also like to welcome the deferral, but I am concerned about down the line when we come to pay that back,” added Cllr Matt Doran (FF). He suggested that the council put aside some money over the next few years to cover the pending cost, but the council’s head of finance, John Dempsey, replied that the council “does not have the capacity” to do so.
Members of the Thomastown electoral area in particular welcomed the decision to proceed with the Thomastown/ Inistioge scheme, with Cllr Sean Treacy (FF) formally proposing that the projects go ahead without delay.
Cllr Doran, on the other hand, expressed concern that, of the 14 projects not being undertaken yet, seven are in the Callan electoral area. “These are important to me and the people I represent,” he said.
“Are we going to see this in every other service in our programme of services provided by the council because we are not able to generate funding at a local level?” asked Cllr Tomas Breathnach (Lab), while Cllr Martin Brett (FG) agreed: “Are we facing a dead-end situation in terms of funding here?”
Cllr Maurice Shortall (Lab) recalled attending a meeting about the Freshford sewerage scheme four and a half years ago, and yet said it was still the case that “our river is being polluted and we are going to be fined”.
“All of these schemes look like they are going to be light years away, and I am very concerned,” Cllr Shortall said.
“A lot of money was spent on these schemes, and now where are we?” agreed Cllr Pat Millea (FF).
“We are very nearly back to where we were pre-development charges, and that was when the department fully funded water and sewerage projects,” said Cllr Tom Maher (FG). “There is no prospect in the future of this council or any other council funding water and sewerage schemes that are required unless the comes in and funds them.”
Cllr Michael O’Brien (Lab) proposed that the council send a delegation to the department, “making an appeal to the powers-that-be” about the council’s need for money for such vital infrastructure.
“I know we are living in times when things are scarce, but clean drinking water is a basic human right,” said Cllr John Brennan (FG).
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Monday 21 May 2012
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