Multi-billion euro project to pipe water from River Shannon gets Cabinet approval

The Water Supply Project for the Eastern and Midlands region is one of the largest infrastructure projects to date and will provide sustainable water supplies for the next 30 years.

The project will create a water spine across the country to towns and regions from Tipperary to Dublin and Carlow to Drogheda by piping water from the River Shannon to a reservoir in Dublin.

The preliminary cost of this development is currently estimated from €4.58 billion to €5.96 billion.

The project proposes to abstract a maximum of 2pc of the average flow of the River Shannon at Parteen Basin downstream of Lough Derg.

Then, treated water will be piped 170km through Tipperary, Offaly and Kildare to a termination point reservoir at Peamount in Co Dublin, where it will connect to the Greater Dublin network.

It comes as the water supply in the Eastern and Midlands regions faces several challenges and an over-reliance on the River Liffey to supply 1.7 million people in the Greater Dublin Area.

Chief executive of Uisce Éireann Niall Gleeson said: “The Water Supply Project is critical for the future of our country. By delivering a secure, climate-proof supply of water for up to 50pc of the State’s population it will facilitate increased demand for housing, enable sustainable economic growth and support competitiveness across the Region.

“It will also help us meet the challenges of climate change by diversifying our water supplies to ensure safe, resilient water services for communities across the region, and reduce the vulnerability to drought and other extreme weather events.”

Mr Gleeson said Úisce Éireann had a significant engagement with the landowners along the route.

“90pc [of landowners] allowed us into their land,” he told the Irish Independent.

Meanwhile, Asset Strategy Manager at Uisce Éireann Angela Ryan said the project consists of three key elements; “the intake element, the water treatment plant, and then the 170-kilometre pipeline route across the country.”

“The water treatment plant site is about 12 hectares of land, the pipeline route itself during the construction stages of the pipeline will cross approximately 500 farm properties,” she told the Irish Independent.

“The pipeline will be a minimum of 1.2 metres below the ground, so full agricultural use can be restored.”

Irish Water Director of Asset Management Sean Laffey said Ireland is a very “water-abundant country”.

“But the infrastructure we need to take full advantage of that particular resource that we have is not there at the moment.”

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said: “Uisce Éireann can now progress the project through the remaining Infrastructure Guidelines approval gates including the submission of a planning application to An Bord Pleanála in 2025.

“One of the key recommendations in the recently published Housing Commission report was to ‘take urgent action to ensure delivery of the critical Water Supply Project for the Eastern and Midlands region’ and with today’s Cabinet approval we are doing just that and showing our commitment to this project and to the future generations.”

The project will now proceed to planning as Uisce Éireann will continue a consultation with landowners and local communities.

Irish Water is to submit a Strategic Infrastructure Development application to An Bord Pleanála next year while the construction is estimated to take four to five years.