Uisce Éireann has 'badly failed' North Tipp, says Councillor

UISCE Éireann has “badly failed” the Lower Ormond region, a Councillor commented during the March monthly meeting of Nenagh Municipal District.
Cllr Seamus Morris made his remark during a discussion on the state of housing in the region. Paul Keaney and Gillian Barry from the Tipperary County Council housing department began the discussion when they gave the Councillors an updated report on the housing situation in North Tipperary.
Cllr Fiona Bonfield asked them if they had any information from the Government regarding the threshold number of social houses in Ireland. “At the moment it is about 30,000 which is too low.” Cllr Bonfield added that the Tipperary Councillors have received a lot of queries from their constituents about the affordable housing that is available in Tipperary.
There are approximately 35,000+ social homes managed by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in Ireland, in addition to a substantial stock managed by 31 Local Authorities. As of a few months ago, over 26,000 social homes were in the construction or design pipeline, following 10,263 delivered in 2022 and “strong delivery” in 2024. According to the most up to date figures there is a total ongoing social housing need/waiting list of over 113,000 households throughout Ireland, which includes those supported by the Housing Assistance Payment.
Cllr Seamus Morris asked Mr Keaney and Ms Barry for an update on a couple of social housing schemes in Nenagh Town where the Council had purchased land for future social housing development. “I am thinking of the St Joseph's Park site and the Abbey Court site. Have we lost the St Joseph's site? Will an Approved Housing Body step into the Abbey Court site?”
Cllr Morris said he's very disappointed with the timeline of the new €49 million Wastewater Treatment Plant in Nenagh which is now underway. “The new WWTP was supposed to be finished by 2024 and now it won't be finished until 2029. I am very concerned about the proposed connections between the WWTP to housing developments in the town. There is no point having housing developments if we can't get Uisce Éireann to link them to the WWTP, both for private and social housing. My feeling is that the social housing projects we have before us are going to be held up because there won't be a connection to the WWTP.”
Cllr Morris asked why doesn't Nenagh MD take legal action against Uisce Eireann? “We all know children who are homeless because of Uisce Éireann. There are children sleeping on couches, living in B&Bs in North Tipperary because of Uisce Éireann. Uisce Éireann are like Donald Trump and we are appeasing both. It's like feeding an alligator and hoping that it will eat us last. Families have broken up because of the housing crisis, people are living in box rooms or have emigrated to Australia. Sites were bought by the Council years ago to provide vital housing and instead of responding with the speed and urgency that is so badly needed Uisce Éireann is dragging its feet.”
Cllr Louise Morgan Walsh said there are 483 applicants on the Nenagh Town Housing List. “Some of them have been on the Housing waiting list for eleven years which is crazy.”
Cllr Joe Hannigan remarked that unfortunately the County Council doesn't have power over the wastewater infrastructure. “Is the Council executive finding this lack of power an issue when it comes to dealing with Uisce Éireann?”
Cllr Pamela Quirke O'Meara pointed out that the lack of affordable and social housing in North Tipperary is a massive issue. “We need to encourage more downsizing where only one or two people are living in big houses. We need to open up more parcels of land and get them serviced.” Downsizing helps alleviate the housing crisis by releasing under-occupied, larger family homes back into the market, allowing younger families to upsize while enabling older residents to move into more manageable, smaller properties. This process increases the supply of family-sized homes without requiring new construction.
Cllr Phyll Bugler, Cathaoirleach, said there is a problem with phosphates and nitrates entering Lough Derg at the moment therefore asked is there a tertiary treatment component of the Nenagh WWTP which will deal with these?
Cllr Bugler said it seems to be getting harder to get landlords to rent out their properties on the RAS (Rental Accommodation) scheme. “I always thought RAS was a good scheme.”
Cllr Michael O'Meara asked if the Part 8 planning process of a proposed housing development in Rathcabbin, which will entail the construction of seven new housing units, has been completed yet. “When will the physical work start?”
Cllr Bugler asked if there are any THMs (Trihalomethanes) entering the Nenagh MD system from Lough Derg? Cllr Joe Hannigan asked why the Council is approving so few housing loans. Ms Barry told him that the criteria for a Council housing loan is two years continuous employment. Sometimes the income of the applicants is too low.
Cllr Bonfield remarked that it is easier to get a mortgage loan from the bank than to get a Council housing loan. “I think the affordable housing scheme might be a better working option.”
Ms Barry said there has been a “steep decline” in the number of landlords wanting to engage in the RAS scheme.
Cllr Bugler said there are 121 RAS tenants in the Nenagh MD area which is “quite low”.
Ms Barry told Cllr Bonfield that the social housing threshold hasn't changed as of yet. “The government department said they will come back to us about it.”
Responding to Cllr Morris' criticism of Uisce Éireann, Director of Services Brian Beck said this issue is not confined to North Tipperary but is a problem across many counties. “I understand and respect Cllr Morris' frustration. We try to deliver houses as quickly as we can throughout the county. We have raised our frustrations with Uisce Éireann on a number of occasions.”
Cllr Morris said he had it “in writing” that the Nenagh Town WWTP would be finished in 2024, “and now we are being told it will be 2029. There is a time when we need to say enough is enough and stand up to this foot dragging because it is holding everyone back. People are leaving North Tipperary because they can't put a roof over their heads. I have never seen such a bad housing situation as this. We are failing people.”
A member of the executive said the Council isn't failing people. “We are in fact meeting the housing targets which have been set for us by the government. Tipperary County Council is not appeasing Uisce Éireann. We regularly challenge them. We regularly ask them the hard questions.”
Mr Keaney told Cllr O'Meara that regarding the proposed seven new housing units in Rathcabbin the public consultation part of the process has finished and the project should come before the April meeting of Nenagh MD for the councillors' approval to proceed to the construction phase.

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