The Government’s goal of constructing 50,000 homes annually is achievable but would require adjustments beyond funding—specifically in what Uisce Éireann refers to as “key enablers”, reports RTE.
Angela Ryan, Assets Strategy Manager at Uisce Éireann, explained that the organisation informed the Government late last year it could support the infrastructure needs for around 30,000 homes per year with its current funding, but that more financial resources would be necessary to meet higher targets.
“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, reports RTE.
“Also, there are some other capabilities that we need to address in the supply chain,” she added, reports RTE.
“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,” reports RTE.
During an interview with RTÉ’s News at One, Ms Ryan emphasized that the planning process must speed up in order to get large infrastructure projects moving.
“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, reports RTE.
In response to news that 6,000 planned homes in Dublin may be at risk due to inadequate water and sewage infrastructure, she noted the urgency of advancing the Greater Dublin Drainage Project (GDDP).
The proposed development in Ballyboggan by Dublin City Council could be affected, according to a report by the Irish Times which stated that Uisce Éireann warned of insufficient water and sewage capacity. Ms Ryan said current demand for water and wastewater services is “really high at present”.
TheLiberal.ie won’t quit
Please support us with a small donation on PayPal!
“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, reports RTE.
She mentioned that while strategies are in place to deal with this rising demand, delays in executing projects are leading to “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,” reports RTE.
Ms Ryan explained there is an integrated water services network designed for greater Dublin, but wastewater capacity is already under strain, particularly in the northside area.
“We have an existing wastewater treatment plant in Ringsend, but we also have some arterial sewers that lead into that treatment plant,” she said, reports RTE.
“We’re starting to reach the hydraulic capacity of those sewers,” reports RTE.
She described how the GDDP includes a new treatment facility in north Dublin, along with an orbital sewer meant to ease the load on the city’s existing sewer network.
“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,” reports RTE.
According to Ms Ryan, planning permission for the GDDP was originally granted in November 2018, but the project has faced setbacks due to a High Court appeal on several points.
“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,” reports RTE.
“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,” reports RTE.
She concluded that infrastructure expansion is crucial to meet the needs of Ireland’s increasing 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,” reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
