Lough Derg pipeline is in financial trouble, says Cllr

A North Tipp councillor this week said the Lough Derg pipeline project is going through financial trouble.

Cllr Seamus Morris told the September meeting of Nenagh Municipal District that he had heard that Irish Water have had to direct funds from the project towards other debts.

“I've been told,” he said, “that Irish Water have had to take €294 million from the Lough Derg pipeline project and use the money to pay off other debts. They had to plug a massive hole in their budget.”

The councillor pointed out that he thinks this shows that this major project is “in trouble. The question now is how will it be funded, if they are taking money away from it like this?”

He added that for sixteen days during August's dry period there wasn't enough water in the Shannon side of the Ardnacrusha Dam in order to supply sufficient electrical power to the grid. “This was shocking,” he remarked. “It shows the kind of problems which can beset the system and which could be exacerbated if they start pumping vast amounts of water from Lough Derg to Dublin.”

He added that a lot of agricultural land, through which the pipe will pass, is in a “sanitised” state at the moment and can't be properly farmed. “Irish Water workers are sometimes visiting the land and drilling test holes. They are drilling test holes for a project that doesn't have any funding. And yet Tipperary County Council doesn't seem to have any questions to ask about this state of affairs. I don't understand what the County Council stands for if it doesn't stand up for the citizens of the county.”

A Council executive member told Cllr Morris that the workers drilling test holes must get consent before entering farmers' lands to do this work. He said the Council is very conscious of the citizens of the county and standing up for their rights.

Dublin City Council published a plan in 2011 to supply up to 350 million litres of water a day from Lough Derg to Dublin city and region. In January 2014, Irish Water took over management of the project which is currently in the Planning Stage. In 2016 it was proposed that over two million people will benefit from the water supplying not only Dublin but also an area including Arklow, Athlone, Athy, Carlow, Drogheda, Mullingar, Navan, Portaloise and Tullamore. In 2018 Irish Water announced plans to seek planning permission for the project.