Offaly County Council proposes charge of €100,000 per km for Shannon PipeDerek Fanning

The Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region proposes to abstract water from Parteen Basin, upstream of Parteen Weir on the Lower River Shannon, utilising a maximum of 2% of the long term average flow at Parteen Basin. It is proposed that the water will be treated near Birdhill, County Tipperary and treated water will then be piped 170km through counties Tipperary, Offaly and Kildare to a termination point reservoir at Peamount in County Dublin, connecting into the Greater Dublin Area water distribution network. | oe

placeholder image — The Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region proposes to abstract water from Parteen Basin, upstream of Parteen Weir on the Lower River Shannon, utilising a maximum of 2% of the long term average flow at Parteen Basin. It is proposed that the water will be treated near Birdhill, County Tipperary and treated water will then be piped 170km through counties Tipperary, Offaly and Kildare to a termination point reservoir at Peamount in County Dublin, connecting into the Greater Dublin Area water distribution network. | oe

Uisce Éireann is not happy with the proposal and has called it “disproportionate”

OFFALY County Council is proposing to charge Uisce Éireann €100,000 per kilometre for the Shannon Pipeline.

The local authority wants to charge the semi-state company this development levy in exchange for the laying of 82 kilometres of pipeline through Offaly (costing €8.2 million in the levy).

Uisce Éireann is not happy with the proposal and has called it “disproportionate”, but the County Council said this rate was in line with a development contribution scheme introduced earlier this year.

An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) deferred its decision on Uisce Éireann’s controversial Water Supply – Eastern and Midlands Region Project at the beginning of July.

The massive infrastructure plan, which involves pumping over 300 million litres of water a day from the Shannon to the Eastern and Midlands region, has been met during recent months and years with grave concerns from local councils and campaigners regarding its environmental impact and ballooning costs.

ACP was due to make a decision on July 2 on Uisce Éireann's Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) application but wrote to all parties to say that "the Commission now intends to determine this application before July 2, 2027.”

The letter stated that the Commission "will take all such steps as are open to it to ensure that the matter is determined before that date.”

Uisce Éireann lodged the plans last December and the ACP letter in July stated that the statutory objective is to determine such a case within 18 weeks of the application being lodged. The commission told parties that it would not be possible “to determine the case within the statutory objective period due to the need for further consideration of the case.”

The SID application is for permission to begin constructing the major water project that will pipe drinking water from the Shannon at the Parteen Basin below Lough Derg on to the Midlands Eastern and Greater Dublin area.

Local communities in Tipperary and across the Shannon region said they will use this window of the coming months as a period during which they can continue to voice their concerns and opposition to the project.

A number of local politicians in Tipperary County Council, including Cllr Seamie Morris, have raised "grave concerns" over the scheme over many months and years. They are now pointing out that it's obvious that the planning body is procrastinating over the massive project.

They said ballooning costs are one of their concerns. Estimated costs for the pipeline could range between €4.6 billion and over €10 billion. Cllr Morris said it could be one of the largest potential economic scandals in Irish commercial history.