Uisce Éireann to submit Shannon pipeline planning application for Ireland’s largest water project

Uisce Éireann is due to lodge a planning application on Friday, December 19, with An Coimisiún Pleanála for what it describes as the largest water infrastructure project ever proposed in the State. 

Formally titled the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region, the scheme is more widely known as the Shannon Pipeline.

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The application will run to more than 500 documents and will include requests for compulsory purchase orders. 

If approved, the project would mark a major expansion of Ireland’s water supply network, drawing water from the River Shannon at the Parteen Basin near Limerick. 

From there it would be conveyed to a new treatment plant at Birdhill before travelling by pipeline some 170 kilometres to the Peamount reservoir in County Dublin. 

Along the route, water would also be supplied to communities across a region with a population of approximately 1.7 million.

Uisce Éireann has reached agreement with farming organisations on compensation rates for landowners whose property may be affected by the pipeline. 

Subject to securing planning permission, construction is scheduled to begin in 2028, with completion envisaged within five years. 

The projected construction cost is estimated at between €4.6 billion and €6 billion.

At peak activity, the project is expected to directly employ more than 1,000 workers, alongside what Uisce Éireann says will be substantial spending on goods and services from local suppliers. 

A Community Benefit Scheme is also being proposed to support areas hosting construction works and permanent infrastructure.

In the coming weeks and months, the utility says a dedicated Community Liaison Officer will engage with communities along the route to provide information about the project. 

Critics, however, have raised concerns about potential environmental impacts on the Shannon and its wider catchment, possible negative effects on tourism in the Shannon and 

Lough Derg areas, the robustness of the cost estimates and the decision to transport water over long distances rather than prioritising leak reduction or alternative sources closer to Dublin, including the Irish Sea.

Uisce Éireann has argued that additional supply is necessary, noting estimates that water demand in the Greater Dublin Area will be 34 per cent higher by 2044 than current availability.

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