Minister stands by claim that he was given assurances about Carrignavar wastewater plant
The North Cork Community Special School in Carrignavar which opened this year. Picture: Noel Sweeney.
A Government minister has flatly contradicted an Uisce Éireann denial that it gave him assurances about the opening of a special school in a Cork village.
In April 2025, reported that Michael Moynihan, minister for special education, had received verbal assurances from Uisce Éireann that wastewater treatment issues would not hinder the opening of the North Cork Community Special School in Carrignavar.
According to internal Uisce Éireann documents released under Freedom of Information, that report led to officials in the water utility company saying there was no record of any such engagement with the minister.
Mr Moynihan has now stood over his claim that he was given “at least a dozen” such assurances.
The North Cork Community Special School was one of five new special schools announced nationally in November 2024 as being planned for the 2025/26 school year.
Its planned opening last September, in a refurbished former primary school in Carrignavar, was delayed by wastewater treatment capacity issues in the village, and it opened instead in temporary accommodation in Gaelscoil de hÍde in Fermoy.
The school has 25 staff and caters for 36 children, aged between four and 18, with autism and mild or moderate learning difficulties.
Wastewater treatment has been an ongoing issue in Carrignavar, a village about 10 miles from Cork city which has a population of 563 people, per the 2022 census.
Following notice of “a discoloured discharge in the River Cloghnagashee, Carrignavar” in July, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the local wastewater treatment plant was “both biologically and hydraulically overloaded”.
There had been fears that the special school would not open in its new premises after it emerged that Uisce Éireann had not signed off on connecting it to the sewerage system.
However, the special school opened in Carrignavar this week after the Department of Education installed a purpose-built wastewater treatment system there.
In documents released to Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould under Freedom of Information legislation, there was alarm in Uisce Éireann at last year’s report that Mr Moynihan had been assured wastewater treatment capacity wouldn’t affect the special school.
Noting that the local plant was “operating well beyond its design capacity”, Uisce Éireann’s asset planning lead said: “As far as I am aware, there is no project underway or scheduled for Carrignavar at this time.
“Do we know if assurances were given to the minister and if not do we need to follow up on this?”
The company’s southwest communications manager replied: “I checked in with the public affairs/shareholder team and there is no record of any such engagement with the minister”.
Asked for comment, Mr Moynihan said that claim was “at variance with what I have been told on numerous occasions, at least a dozen times”.
He added that his “number one commitment” was to children with additional needs and their families.
“The school is open and I’m looking forward to engaging with the school authorities over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
Mr Gould said he was glad the special school was now open, but he was seeking “urgent clarification” from the minister.
“Who in Uisce Eireann gave him a reassurance in 2025? This is really concerning,” he said. “People should be able to trust the word of Government TDs.
“This has far-reaching consequences.”
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