More than €3M has been spent on the Goath Dobhair Sewerage Scheme without a single pipe being laid yet, it has been revealed.
Pearse Doherty
The massive spend has been confirmed by Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government.
And now it has ben revealed that it will be at least 2017 before work will start on the West Donegal scheme.
Sinn Féin TD for Donegal South West, Pearse Doherty described the situation as a “disgrace.”
“Last week I submitted a Parliamentary Question to the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to confirm the amount spent on the Gweedore Sewerage Scheme over the past fifteen years.
“The response I received from the Minister yesterday states that a staggering €3 million euro has been spent on this scheme, although a pipe has yet to be laid.
“Despite the fact that this huge sum has been spent to get the project tender ready, it appears that Irish Water intend to undertake a review of the scheme, which could effectively bringing this scheme back to square one.”
He aded that a review of the scheme as proposed by Irish Water means that this project will not be progressed under the current Capital Investment Programme as a scheme to start construction and therefore it will be 2017 at the earliest before construction starts on the scheme.
“It has been confirmed by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government that the contract documents for this scheme had been submitted by Donegal County Council and approved by the Department last year, therefore I see no reason why this scheme should now be reviewed at this point.
“In my view, this scheme should be progressed without further delay given the huge amount of time, effort and money that has been spent in getting the scheme to this point. Over the past fifteen years the Department has put numerous obstacles in the way of progressing this scheme, which has resulted in the waste of huge amounts of money. It makes no sense economically to delay this scheme any longer and it must now be progressed in a timely fashion.
“It is an absolute disgrace that fifteen years, millions of euros and countless Government promises later, the people of Gweedore are no further forward in having this crucial infrastructure for the area realised. I intend to keep in regular contact with officials in Irish Water to ensure that the best possible case for the progression of the Gweedore Sewerage Scheme is put forward.”
Tags: