An East Clare Councillor believes Irish Water needs to address significant leakage issues in its infrastructure before progressing with abstracting water from the Parteen Weir to Dublin and the Midlands.
Elected representatives received a briefing on Irish Water’s plans for the Eastern and Midlands region last evening, of which the planned abstraction from communities around Lough Derg is a part of.
Councillors across all parties and geographical areas of Clare made their worries about the potential impact of droughts here should the project go ahead clear, along with suggestions of an imbalance between development in the West and East of the State.
Speaking with Clare FM’s Josh Prenderville, Maghera-based Fianna Fail Councillor Pat Hayes says bigger issues need to be addressed before water supplies are interconnected by the utility.
Irish Water’s Programme Manager meanwhile insists there will be much ‘rigour’ and engagement with communities around Lough Derg before the project comes to fruition.
A period of public consultation for the utility’s Regional Resources Plan in the Eastern and Midlands area, of which the abstraction is a part of, runs until Monday.
The project will need to be assessed by the Environmental Protection Agency and go through the planning process before it’s given the green light.
Caroline O’Reilly, who’s Programme Manager with Irish Water says the works won’t go ahead if they’re deemed to be in danger of negatively impacting the environment.
