€6bn price tag as Uisce Éireann seeks approval for largest-ever Irish water project
Eva Osborne
Uisce Éireann has submitted a planning application for the largest-ever water project in Irish history, with a budget estimate of between €4.58 billion and €5.96 billion.
The applications for the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region were submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála, consisting of over 500 documents.
The project is designed to provide a secure water supply to Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and Wicklow, supporting homes, businesses and future housing developments.
Uisce Éireann said the project will also create a treated water supply ‘spine’ across the country, providing infrastructure with the capacity for future offtakes to serve communities along the route in Tipperary, Offaly, and Westmeath.
In addition, the project will enable supplies currently serving Dublin to be redirected back to Louth, Meath, Kildare, Carlow, and Wicklow.
Subject to a successful planning application, Uisce Éireann proposes to start construction in 2028, with completion within five years, with a budget estimate of between €4.58 billion and €5.96 billion.
At peak construction, Uisce Éireann said the project will employ more than 1,000 people directly, with a "significant associated spend" on local supplier goods and services.
The Water Supply Project proposes to abstract water from Parteen Basin, upstream of Parteen Weir on the Lower River Shannon, utilising a maximum of two per cent of the long-term average flow at Parteen Basin.
It is proposed that the water will be treated near Birdhill, Co Tipperary, and treated water will then be piped 170km through counties Tipperary, Offaly, and Kildare to a termination point reservoir at Peamount in Co Dublin, connecting into the Greater Dublin Area water distribution network.
Minister for Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers, said, “The submission of this planning application for the Water Supply Project to An Coimisiún Pleanála is a major milestone that will unlock housing in the Eastern and Midlands Region.
"This project is a vital piece of infrastructure to support Ireland’s development, not alone in the delivery of new homes for young people, families and workers in our economy, but to sustain businesses and communities right through the Midlands and Eastern region of our country.”
Maria O’Dwyer of Uisce Éireann said: “The need is clear - the growing water supply deficit and lack of supply resilience in the Eastern and Midlands Region is simply not sustainable. It is estimated 34 per cent more water will be needed by 2044 in the Greater Dublin Area.
"This project is critical to enable us to support housing delivery and is backed by the Government’s continued funding commitment.
"Over the coming months we will continue to engage with potential contractors and progress the procurement process so that, subject to the planning approval, works can be mobilised as quickly and efficiently as possible”.
