€9.7 million investment will protect South Beach Rush benefiting over 9,000 residents and Fingal’s tourist industry
Irish Water today signed a contract to begin construction on the new wastewater collection network scheme for Rush, Co. Dublin. Irish Water is investing €9.7 million in the project which will benefit over 9,000 residents, tourists and the environment in Rush and will significantly improve the bathing water at South Beach Rush by stopping the discharge of untreated wastewater into the sea. The contract was signed with Jons Civil Engineering and is expected to take two years to complete. The contract includes the construction of the new infrastructure to collect and transfer wastewater from existing outfalls and overflows to the foreshore and onwards to the new wastewater treatment plant at Portrane. New pumping stations will also be constructed at South Shore, North Beach and East Shore, Rush. Commenting on the announcement, Michael Tinsley, Asset Programmes Manager at Irish Water said “The new wastewater collection network scheme for Rush is a significant project for Irish Water. Since Irish Water took over the responsibility for water and wastewater services in January 2014, addressing the need to eliminate the discharge of raw sewage into the sea in Rush has been a top priority. We are pleased today to announce that the contract has been signed and work will commence in November 2016. Mr. Tinsley added “45 locations across the country where raw sewage was being discharge directly into a receiving water (inland waterway or coastal sea area) were identified in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Urban Waste Water Report 2013. Irish Water is taking a national approach to the provision of water and wastewater services and projects such the new wastewater collection network scheme for Rush, Co. Dublin are being prioritised for investment. By investing in our network and treatment plants we are ensuring that Ireland will have the wastewater infrastructure to protect public health, the environment and benefit residents and tourists. New wastewater treatment plants have already been completed by Irish Water in Dunmore East, Carrigtwohill and Clonakilty stopping the discharge of untreated sewage into receiving waters in these communities. Irish Water is also progressing projects in Arklow, Cork Lower Harbour, Belmullet, Youghal, Kinvara and Bundoran, among others, to build new wastewater treatment plants for these communities”. This project forms part of Irish Water’s investment plan where over €532 million will be invested in upgrading services in 2016 to improve the country’s water and wastewater infrastructure. The Irish Water Business Plan has earmarked almost €2 billion in improving wastewater quality and capacity up to 2021. Local Fianna Fáil TD, Darragh O’Brien has said that this week’s Budget announcement excludes the needs of the fastest-growing county in the country.
Commenting on this week's Budget, Deputy O’Brien said, “Another year, another budget has passed and Metro North and the expansion of DART services remain under “review.” “The number of people living in Fingal is now close to 300,000; an increase of 8pc in the past five years and over 20,000 more than 2011. Despite this, little is being done to improve services or infrastructure in the area. “Furthermore, this increase in population further pressurises our local primary and secondary schools which are already over-subscribed or at capacity. It has been continually noted that high birth rates in recent years, mean additional school places are required to simply keep pace. “Yet the provision of new secondary schools in the Swords area and also in the Malahide and Portmarnock areas still remain at a planning phase. “The Dublin Metro is absolutely essential for our ever-growing city, most particularly in North County. Meanwhile, Dublin Airport continues to experience strong growth, breaking all previous records. "Fine Gael have set themselves against any delivery of shovel-ready plans for the project even after announcing a scaled back version with no business case analysis and that has yet to go through the planning process. “The longer the delays go on and the inaction continues, the clearer it is becoming that the Fine Gael promises made to people in this region in relation to public transport have been firmly ignored. The north side is sadly not a priority for this Government but I and my party will continue to use our mandate to keep North County Dublin issues on the agenda.” Fianna Fáil Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Trade Deputy Darragh O’Brien has expressed his disappointment at the meagre increase in ODA in Budget 2017.
“The €10 million increase in ODA is a pitiful gesture and is particularly disappointing given the scale of the humanitarian crises before us. "In light of the fact that Ireland co-chaired a UN Summit for migration and refugees as recently as September and previously co-facilitated the negotiations to agree the Sustainable Development Goals, this is a unacceptably low increase. Fine Gael is becoming very good at talking the talk but not actually delivering when it matters. "Ireland will now fall further in terms of the percentage of Gross National Income (GNI) being spent on assisting the world’s most vulnerable. At this stage we are only paying lip-service to the UN target of 0.7% of GNP being spent on overseas development aid. "I had hoped that Budget 2017 would be used by the Irish Government as an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to assisting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. I believe that they failed miserably in that regard." Fianna Fáil Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Darragh O’Brien TD has said that yesterday’s Budget emphasises the need for a Minister to be appointed to deal with Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Deputy O’Brien commented, “Yesterday’s Budget underscored the seriousness of Brexit and the threat it poses to Ireland. The Government is showing tokenism in light of the greatest threat to Ireland’s economy for many decades. “It is as though Minister Noonan has just labelled a number of small outlying budgetary items as “Brexit” and claims that it represents an actual plan. “There is an immediate need to appoint a Minister dedicated to dealing with the implications of Brexit and who can drive and co-ordinate a properly financed plan to prepare for Britain’s exit. “The Government has been tardy in its response to date and needs to do more. We can ill afford to prepare for an event that is going to have such a significant impact on Ireland more so than any other member state in the EU. “Ireland and the UK exchange €1.2bn worth of goods and services weekly; 14% of Irish goods and services are exported to the UK and 30% of all employment is in sectors which are heavily related to UK exports. Thousands of jobs could be in jeopardy if we do not have a pertinent plan in place. “We were told that this Budget was going to be ‘Brexit Proofed’ but this is not the case. This Budget presented an opportunity to react appropriately to the potential dangers. “What has been put forward in this Budget is an abysmal response to a real economic threat and more must be done before Article 50 is invoked by the British government next March”. Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade Deputy Darragh O’Brien has expressed his skepticism about reports that Britain will seek to shift the onus of immigration control to Ireland.
Commenting following the story in Britain's The Guardian newspaper, Deputy O’Brien said, "As each week passes, we are reminded of the extent to which those who proposed and campaigned for Brexit have no idea of how to actually implement it. "The latest idea, that the issues associated with there being a land border between the EU and the UK could be dealt with by giving Ireland responsibility for policing the UK border, seems highly implausible. "Fianna Fáil were very vocal about this issue during this campaign and made clear that any Brexit plan which included Ireland taking responsibility for the UK border should be a non-runner. Any border restrictions between North and South are completely unacceptable. “Ireland is a committed member of the EU and the freedoms involved. The idea that we would compromise our own position and limit the movement of EU citizens within the country is not grounded in any reality. At the most basic level, how would those promoting this idea propose that we stop our visitors travelling north of Dundalk? "Ireland is determined to play a constructive role in the Brexit negotiations that will now take place and to ensure that the special position of Northern Ireland is recognised, but we need to be clear that our membership of the EU and the freedoms associated with it are not up for any sort of negotiation. "Britain voted to leave the EU and must now try to understand what that means and how it will work. We want to help them in that process, but the Irish Government should not be entertaining any proposal that would compromise our position as an open and welcoming society and economy." Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade Darragh O’Brien TD has said that Overseas Development Aid (ODA) must not be forgotten in Budget 2017.
Commenting on the issue Deputy O’Brien said, ”While I recognise that there are a lot of competing demands with regards to the forthcoming Budget, it is imperative that ODA is not forgotten about. “In 2000 Ireland committed to the UN target of spending 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on ODA. However, we have fallen considerably short in this regard and the date by which this target is to be reached has been extended on a number of occasions. “The previous Government made a commitment to reach the 0.7% of GNP target for Overseas Development Aid by 2015 in their 2011 Programme for Government. This target was not achieved and now we have a new target year of 2030, which is fourteen years away. “At present we are only at 0.36% and this is considerably below the 0.59% reached when Fianna Fáil was in Government. This target should not be considered a lofty aspiration; it should be considered an integral and achievable foreign policy objective. “Ireland has an excellent reputation in relation to aid and development. However, our reputation will be at stake if we continue to renege on the UN target. The upcoming Budget is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to assisting some of the world’s most vulnerable people and regions. I hope that this commitment will be evident in Budget 2017.” |
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November 2023
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