A Green Party TD has said that there is a “new estate in Dublin” where the wastewater is being stored in “an industrial-scale tank and being removed by a slurry tanker on at least a weekly basis”.
Speaking at the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage recently, deputy Francis Noel Duffy said that wastewater infrastructure – or lack thereof – is stalling the commencement of housing developments around the country.
At the committee meeting, he emphasised the need for a national audit of Ireland’s wastewater systems to identify areas where there is capacity, and areas where infrastructure needs to be improved.
“Considering the housing crisis, and the Housing for All plan, the government has set in place the provision of legislation and funding to mitigate the housing crisis,” the deputy said.
“However, there are a number of logjams in the system, including labour to meet construction projects, but bigger than this is the provision of water and wastewater infrastructure.
“Therefore it is of paramount importance that the first thing that has to happen is a full national audit to realise capacity issues.”
The deputy offered “an example” of a “new estate” in Dublin where the wastewater is being stored in “an industrial-scale tank and being removed by a slurry tanker on at least a weekly basis”.
“This being allowed to happen is shocking to me as a practitioner in the construction space, it does not seem appropriate in our times and I question its compliance in a planning context,” the Dublin South-West TD said.