As part of the Limerick-Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy 2040, there was reference to establishing a Limerick commuter rail service. As an aid to developing the strategy, detailed assessment of rail proposals was undertaken. The assessment identified a programme for a commuter rail network to be developed. It included, in phase 1, stations at both Moyross and Ballysimon and the potential of other stations on the existing rail line that would include Corbally and the Parkway Shopping Centre area of Limerick. Will the Minister outline what steps have been taken to date by his Department or the National Transport Authority to realise this ambition?

The National Transport Authority published the Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area transport strategy, LSMATS, in December of last year. The strategy was prepared by the NTA in collaboration with Limerick City and County Council, Clare County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, with the co-operation of Iarnród Éireann, and provides a roadmap for sustainable transport in the region for the next 20 years.

Proposals for investment in rail under LSMATS include a new station in Moyross, which I announced last October as a pathfinder project to be delivered within the next three years; a new station at Ballysimon, along with park-and-ride facilities; an increase in the frequency of services on the Ballybrophy line to two trains hourly; an increase in the frequency of services on the Ennis line to three trains hourly; dual tracking of the line from Limerick Junction to Colbert Station; and the upgrading of Colbert Station.

LSMATS also proposes a detailed feasibility study to determine future investment in rail infrastructure and commuter services in the Limerick area. The proposed study will assess future development in the region, evaluate future demand based on projected increases in population and economic activity and outline medium- to long-term investment in rail. Options around investment in improving existing infrastructure and investment in new infrastructure will be examined in detail, including the reuse of the Foynes and Mungret lines, a future rail line to Shannon and future stations at appropriate locations integrated with high-density transport-orientated development.

The Deputy can be assured that progress is happening on the ground now, as evidenced by the completion of the Ballybrophy track-relaying project last year, the commencement of the Foynes line rehabilitation works this year and the well-advanced plans to upgrade Colbert Station and to include Moyross in the pathfinder programme of projects.

It will come as no surprise to the Minister that I have concerns about LSMATS, particularly when a vital piece of infrastructure such as the northern distributor road is removed from the second iteration of the strategy without consultation and against the wishes of the vast majority of elected members in both Clare and Limerick. It is my understanding that this was done under the Minister's instruction. Under the rail section of that document it commits, as the Minister said, to a new rail station in Moyross that would match the demand for travel in that area. I speak specifically of a station in Moyross and its potential. The people of Moyross have worked really hard in recent years to transform the area. They have campaigned for it no longer to be the cul-de-sac cut off from neighbouring estates that it was for years, and its success was the start of the development of the Coonagh-Knockalisheen road. Moyross and its surrounds are an area prime for development and investment. It is close to the city and perfect for a park-and-ride area. Limerick's main sporting grounds, Thomond Park and the Gaelic Grounds, are close by. If a train were delivered, a connection has the potential to open the area to visitors and investors alike. It was in the original Limerick regeneration plan but, unfortunately, was not progressed, so I welcome the Minister's comments on that.

For well over ten years, the wastewater treatment plant in Cluain na Croise in Crossbarry has been malfunctioning and it is causing huge difficulty for locals. As far back as 2016, the plant was one of only half a dozen that the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications was advancing through a pilot scheme to resolve defective developer-led infrastructure. Unfortunately, Crossbarry was the only village in the original pilot scheme that did not advance to construction. A new resolution programme was developed, based around the pilot, to resolve issues with defective developer-led infrastructure such as in Crossbarry. Cork County Council put forward the Cluain na Croise plant to be dealt with. It was part of the Department's new scheme.

Unfortunately, there has been back-and-forth and questions and answers over recent years. It is very frustrating for locals not seeing the Crossbarry wastewater treatment plant being repaired. Many smaller plants have been advanced through the Department's programme which have overtaken Crossbarry, and more luck to them because they were needed. So too is the plant in Cluain na Croise in Crossbarry. It has been very difficult for residents who have put up with blocked sewers, foul smells and overflows that the council has to repeatedly clean up. It is very unfair on locals. This needs to be resolved.

Householders are concerned. They want to see a pathway to resolving this issue so they can move on with their lives and know that the defective treatment plant at the end of the village will be fixed. Resolving the plant in Cluain na Croise and linking it to the other defective plants in the village would have many benefits. There is the obvious environmental benefit in repairing the plant and improving water quality, but there is also a demand for housing locally. Crossbarry is a desirable place to live. It has easy access to Cork and Bandon and nearby work in Brinny. It has good schools and a strong community spirit. It is an attractive place to live.

There are zoned lands in the village, but in the absence of the treatment plant they are not accessible. It is not just a nuisance on its own. There is a huge struggle for locals getting houses. They have contacted me about getting planning permission for one-off houses or even sewer connections in the absence of the plant. Repairing the defective plant and linking it to the other malfunctioning plants around the village makes sense in terms of unlocking the opportunity, removing the major nuisance and improving water quality.

Similar plants have been advanced, which plug into the Uisce Éireann network and remove the temporary plants. Crossbarry is a much larger scheme and could be a destination for all of the other plants in the village, linking the likes of Lissagroom Meadows and other homes and businesses. It could unlock zoned ground. Some of the infrastructure is already in the ground.

Over the years, I have been in constant contact with Cork County Council as it is trying to deal with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and, to a lesser extent, Uisce Éireann in order to advance Crossbarry. Time and again, the council is asked the same questions. It has been very forthcoming with answers. There have been no questions for some months and the Department's expert group should have all the data needed to make a positive decision.

The Minister of State will recall that when the Department put in place a programme in 2018 and 2019, it was based on the lessons learned from the pilot scheme. Despite that, Crossbarry still does not appear to have advanced. How could that be? Why is Crossbarry being left for so long? What can be done to get the malfunctioning plant sorted, get rid of the nuisance and give locals in Crossbarry a chance to get on with their lives?

A small number of housing estates nationally rely on developer-provided water services infrastructure, commonly referred to as DPI, for their water services. The infrastructure concerned mainly consists of wastewater treatment facilities, with a small number providing drinking water services for the estate. The majority of estates with DPI are legacy issues from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. The infrastructure was generally provided by the developer of the estate and is not connected to the public water network of Uisce Éireann. It is important to say that DPI are privately owned, with many coming to the end of their useful life.

The Department provides funding to progressively resolve these legacy issues through the multi-annual developer-provided water services infrastructure resolution programme. The purpose of the programme is to progressively resolve the DPI in estates such as Gleann Alainn, Cluain na Croise, Cul na Greine and Lissagroom Meadows in Crossbarry. It is worth noting that the type of estates involved are not all the same and that there are different solutions required to resolve the DPI issues involved.

Deputy Leddin wishes to come in.

I am absolutely shocked by Deputy Quinlivan's insistence that the northern distributor road will be delivered if Sinn Féin is in government.

Deputy Leddin is the only person in Limerick or the mid-west.

It makes an absolute mockery of Sinn Féin's claim to be at all serious on climate or planning. The northern distributor road is absolutely the wrong project for Limerick. The right project for Limerick is laid out in the Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area transport strategy. It is incredible investment in rail and bus infrastructure in Limerick and Clare, and I welcome the Minister's comments. I welcome the ambition to deliver a rail link to Shannon Airport, reopening the Foynes railway line. We need to be talking about a new railway station at Raheen, particularly. It is not talked about enough. There are 7,000 or 8,000 people working there every day. Those should be priorities. Moyross and Ballysimon have to be priorities. This is what Limerick should be doing and absolutely not the northern distributor road.

The House will not be surprised that I agree with Deputy Leddin. It is an either-or. We could go with a roads-based sprawl development, and Limerick could spread out into Clare on an unsustainable roads development system, which has not worked for Limerick. Limerick should be much bigger. Limerick needs to grow and needs to be much larger, and I believe it can grow around a sustainable transport system. If you try to do both, you will undermine the sustainable option.

It will not be viable. The housing will not be put in the right places. There will not be this 15-minute city concept, which we need to develop in Limerick, and we will not connect particularly those communities that were left isolated and without public transport systems, often people who could not afford a car. We need to think of them. There is a social justice issue in this. Public transport belongs to and provides for everyone. A car-based development model, which is unsustainable in environmental terms, is also socially regressive. The cities of the world that think in that direction, even Los Angeles, are tearing up the highways and freeways and starting to put in rail-based solutions because they know that is what makes cities work and what makes cities attractive to live in and prosper in, and we want Limerick to prosper.