Latest news with #GreaterDublinDrainageProject
Extra.ie
6 days ago
- Business
- Extra.ie
Stark warning: Dublin faces citywide water shortages within five years
Uisce Éireann has warned water shortages will hit 'all customers' in Dublin in 'the next five years' due to 'critical' infrastructure issues. The chief executive of the utility, Niall Gleeson, has written to Housing Minister James Browne seeking 'an urgent meeting' over the matter. Mr Gleeson fears a multibillion-euro proposal to pump water from the River Shannon into the Greater Dublin Area to meet growing demand could be delayed for several years by planning objections from environmentalists. Housing Minister James Browne. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins He pointed to plans for a new wastewater plant that was expected to be operational this year, but now won't be delivered until 2032. In correspondence released to under Freedom of Information legislation, the Uisce Éireann boss said that issues with the supply of water in Dublin have become so dire that a drought in the Liffey today would result in immediate water restrictions. has previously revealed that thousands of new homes in Dublin are at risk because Uisce Éireann (Irish Water) needs tens of billions in investment. Niall Gleeson. Pic: Sasko Lazarov / © But the delivery of new homes is not the only serious problem emerging from Ireland's creaking water infrastructure. Mr Gleeson said the issues will affect 'not just the new housing targets but current and future foreign direct investment' in Dublin and across the country. He wrote: 'Significant population and economic growth over and above forecasts in the GDA (Greater Dublin Area) in the last three years means that there will be a shortage of water for all customers within the next five years. Greater Dublin. Pic: Getty Images 'This shortage can only be adequately addressed by prioritising the delivery of the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region (WSP).' The WSP will see water from the Shannon piped 170 km through counties Tipperary, Offaly, and Kildare to a reservoir at Peamount in Dublin, connecting into the GDA water supply network. The Department of Housing estimates that the project could cost over €10 billion. But Mr Gleeson has raised fears the WSP will run into significant planning delays. He referenced the Greater Dublin Drainage Project (GDD), which provides for a new wastewater treatment plant in Clonshaugh. The office of An Bord Pleanála in Dublin. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos It has been in planning for six years, with the original consent quashed 'on one ground only, over which Uisce Éireann had no control', and which related to a consultation between An Bord Pleanála and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This, he said, was 'a direct consequence of the overly complex multiple consenting regime in Ireland' The planning application was lodged in 2018, and the project was expected to be 'complete and operational by 2025'. However, he added: 'As a result of the ongoing planning delays, we now believe that, at best, the project may be delivered and operational by 2032.' Mr Gleeson then warned that he fears the same problems will befall the WSP. He said: 'Given the issues experienced on the GDD project, we are concerned that the WSP will suffer similar delays and will be tied up for years in the consenting processes.' However, a spokeswoman for the EPA said that An Bord Pleanála had not fulfilled its obligations to seek the agency's views on the DDP. She told 'The judgment in this case did not identify any shortcomings or omissions by the EPA. Uisce Éireann has submitted an application to the EPA, which is currently under review. 'A final decision will be made by the EPA on this licence once the necessary planning decision has been made.' A spokesman for Irish Water said the supply in the GDA is on a 'knife edge'. He said this may result in 'water conservation orders (hosepipe bans) or supply restrictions', particularly during periods of drought/high demand. He added: 'This is an unsustainable situation and is a symptom of the critical need to develop a new source of supply.' On housing, Mr Gleeson said it is estimated that to meet housing targets of 50,000 units per year, Irish Water would need an additional € 1.7 billion in a 'nationally multi-annual ring-fenced fund for housing and growth'. He added: 'Our projects are of national importance and without them there will be significant curtailment of the State's housing programme despite our best efforts'. A spokesman for the Department of Housing said that 'while there are risks to water supply until the Eastern and Midlands Water Supply Project is completed in the early 2030s, Uisce Éireann will take all possible action to maintain supply and support new connections'.
RTÉ News
12-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Changes needed to meet housing targets
The Government's target of building 50,000 homes a year is possible, but would require some change, not only in terms of financing but also regarding "key enablers", according to Uisce Éireann. Assets Strategy Manager with Uisce Éireann Angela Ryan said that they had contacted the Government late last year to say that it had sufficient funding to address just over 30,000 houses per year, but identified that additional funding would be needed if targets were to increase. "We will need more money, but we will also need some other key enablers in that space, so we will probably need a little bit of reform of planning, we probably need greater advocacy for infrastructure projects, we need greater support across government to go behind these initiatives," she said. "Also, there are some other capabilities that we need to address in the supply chain," she added. "Uisce Éireann are quite good and have a really, really good track record on delivering projects on time and on budget – we have the solutions, we have the capability, I think we just need those key enablers and some additional funding in that space." Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Ms Ryan said that projects needed to move through planning much quicker in order to deliver major infrastructure. "The Greater Dublin Drainage and the water supply project Eastern and Midlands region, if we don't get those projects moving it will be very difficult to sustain that level of housing ambition," she said. Plans for homes in jeopardy Amid reports that plans for 6,000 new homes in Dublin could be in jeopardy because of a lack of water and sewage infrastructure, she said that the Greater Dublin Drainage Project (GDDP) needs to be progressed. Dublin City Council wants to build the homes in Ballyboggan, but the Irish Times has reported that Uisce Éireann has warned the council that a lack of water and sewage capacity could threaten the development. Ms Ryan said that demand for water and wastewater treatment is "really high at present". "We've got a lot of growth within the system and also because the economy is doing quite well, there is a lot of commercial usage of water," she said. She said that there are plans in place to address the increase in demand, but there are cases where those projects are getting delayed, causing "significant issues". "Particularly on the wastewater side, the Greater Dublin Drainage Project is stuck in planning right now; we really need that project to be approved and we really need to start progressing that project so we can meet housing needs." She said that there is an integrated water services network in place to serve the wider and greater Dublin area and added that wastewater capacity is becoming an issue "specifically on the northside". "We have an existing wastewater treatment plant in Ringsend, but we also have some arterial sewers that lead into that treatment plant," she said. "We're starting to reach the hydraulic capacity of those sewers." Infrastructure needed to meet population growth Ms Ryan said that the GDDP involves a new wastewater treatment plant in the northside of Dublin, but also an orbital sewer which would take the pressure off arterial sewers within the city. "We need to get that progressed as quickly as possible, put in some local solutions such as pump stations, but we need to get that infrastructure in place so we can support the growth." She said that the planning permission for the GDDP was approved in November 2018 and attributed the six-year delay to an appeal made to the High Court on a number of grounds. "One of those grounds was upheld, it was just a procedural piece, some documentation between An Bórd Pleanála and the EPA, but what that has resulted in is significant delay to that project," "That project is still in the planning process six years later, we're hoping to get a decision on that over the coming months, but we really need to start progressing on with that project now." Ms Ryan added that infrastructure will be needed to address the demands of a growing population. "We're over-reliant on infrastructure that was built for this country when we had a population of 3.5 million people, we're now up to 5.1 million people, so we need to get those major projects progressing now."
Irish Daily Mirror
09-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Uisce Eireann chief says planning objections costing State 'billions'
Planning objections to major projects are costing the State and taxpayers 'billions' of euro, the CEO of Uisce Éireann has warned. Niall Gleeson stated that there is a 'cohort of people in this country who don't want to build anything', as he warned of a new phenomenon called 'bananas' – 'Build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything'. He made the remarks at the opening of a new wastewater treatment plan in Arklow, Co Wicklow, which was also attended by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Housing Minister James Browne. During his speech, Mr Gleeson spoke about how planning permission was launched for the Arklow wastewater treatment plant and the Greater Dublin Drainage Project (GDG) at the same time. GDG still has not been completed due to objections and planning delays, while the Arklow site was opened on Friday. Mr Gleeson said there is 'something wrong with the system if that can happen'. If the Dublin project had been built at the time, the cost would have been €600 million, but Mr Gleeson fears it could be in the region of €1.2 billion now due to inflation and delays. He said: 'We have a cohort of people in this country who don't want to build anything and they are holding up processes on the basis of being environmental crusaders. 'But actually, the people in this tent are the environmentalists, the people who campaigned for the project, the people who provide the funding, the people who did the design, did the build and now operate the plant. 'We need to work on the objectors. They're not really helping the environment. 'They're just costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions and they're stopping our children from getting homes.' Speaking to reporters after his speech, Mr Gleeson projected that planning objections that lead to delays are causing prices to rise and costing the State more money in the long term. He said: 'I would say that if you took it, the taxpayer and the State, it is probably in the billions [that is being lost]. 'Private entities are losing a fortune through this kind of stuff as well. 'I know there's a lot of work being done on the planning process and, actually, a lot of the planning process works pretty well with the local authorities and An Bórd Pleanála, 'But it's the ones that are tricky to get through, the larger projects, that I think we need extra support. But that cost is real.' Mr Gleeson said that he knows we live in a 'democratic society' and there are 'processes' in place for objecting to projects. However, he suggested that 'people are using the judicial review system where they don't like the answer from An Bórd Pleanála. He added: 'I don't think that's working for the State. I don't think the common good is being delivered.' When Mr Gleeson's concerns were put to the Taoiseach, he said 'we are in a democratic society' and 'always welcome consultations and inputs from local communities and from people in terms of any major piece of infrastructure'. He also stated that new planning laws and the establishment of a new Planning Commission 'will help in that regard'. This week, questions were raised about whether €1 billion in funding announced in Budget 2026 was actually additional funding. Mr Gleeson said that Uisce Éireann wrote to then-Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien seeking 'clarification on the extra €1billion' and that they received an answer they were 'satisfied with'. He stated that the body had sought €10.2 billion over the next five years as part of the strategic funding plan. Following the decision to increase housing targets, they have now sought an extra €2 billion. He added: 'I think we would say that we're happy with the funding that we're getting at the moment.'
