Danny Healy-Rae: Urgent plea over Kerry sewage crisis
Danny Healy-Rae addresses the Dail to warn about failing wastewater infrastructure across County Kerry and to demand government funding for urgent upgrades. He highlights specific towns and villages running at capacity, long delays for treatment plant extensions, and the environmental impact on rivers and fish stocks.
Key plea and local examples
Danny Healy-Rae thanks local tidy towns groups and rural development bodies for their environmental work, then turns to the pressing problem of wastewater treatment plants. He cites towns like Castleisland, villages such as Scartaglin and Currow and satellite settlements unable to build due to overloaded sewer systems.
Funding shortfall and responsibility
Healy-Rae argues that local authorities and Irish Water have been starved of funding to address over-capacity plants and decades-long delays for upgrades. He presses the Minister and the government to release funds, stressing that building housing and sustaining communities is impossible without functioning waste treatment.
Infrastructure consequences
The deputy recounts long-standing local struggles-septic tanks, holding tanks, and one town waiting for an extension for 40 years-showing how infrastructure failure restricts development and harms residents.
Rivers and environment
Healy-Rae also calls for river maintenance, saying overgrown banks and overshadowing trees are reducing salmon and trout numbers. He urges a return to clearing rivers to protect fish stocks and the rural environment.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I just want to inform Deputy Heanegan that I welcomed four young hares into my field the other morning. Grand specimens. First of all, last Comhairle, I want to thank the local community groups, tidy towns committees, and the rural development companies for the great work they do enhancing our environment around all our towns and villages in the County of Kerry. But indeed we are facing a massive challenge, Minister, with our waste water treatment plants. And local authorities and now Irish Water have been starved with funding to deal with these. And we have towns in Kerry that are over capacity. We have a town, Castle Island, that have been looking for an extension to their treatment plant for 40 years. I found documents belonging to my father above in the garage where he was at. A third of the town is dealt with septic tanks. And you know that's not the way to go. Villages like Scotland and Cora, all of them are very close to each other. They have no treatment plants. Scotland have none, and neither has Cora. It just has a holding tank, and it's drawn out of it constantly into the treatment plant in Killarney. We have a village like my van, a satellite village from Tralee, and they can't build another house. The sewer system won't take an extra house. It's over capacity. There's so many of our towns and villages that need improvements in this. I think there's 32 or 3 at the present time on a leash to be dealt with. That won't happen without funding, Minister, and Irish Water don't have access to funding unless the government will give it to them. I'm appealing to you now. You must start on the ground, and maybe people don't like talking about sewage, but you can build houses if we don't have waste treatment plants, and if we're still waiting for water in a place like Kinmear. These are the things that have to be dealt with, and they have to be funded, and I'm appealing to you again from this seat here, and I've directed my request across the chamber since I came up here in 2016. I'm asking. The other thing is to clear out our rivers. Our rivers are overshadowed by trees. Salmon won't thrive in them or trout, and I'm asking to clean out the rivers like we've always done. That's the reason why the fish are depleting in numbers, and those are the things we need to start.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
