Wastewater Treatment
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-15
============================================================

John Cummins (FG), Waterford

I thank the Deputy very much for raising what is a very important issue for the area of Kanturk - an area that the Deputy is exceptionally passionate about.
The operation of public wastewater treatment, together with the operational issues locally, are matters for Uisce Éireann, which has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services, planning, delivery and operational at national, regional and local levels. Neither the Minister, Deputy Browne, nor I have a function in the matters which the Deputy refers. However, that being said, I have made inquiries with Uisce Éireann on foot of the Deputy's Topical Issue being submitted. I have been informed that there are, obviously, capacity constraints on the wastewater treatment plant at Kanturk. This is currently under review.
Any proposed development requires engagement with Uisce Éireann to assess feasibility on a case-by-case basis. In other words, connection applications need to be assessed on an individual basis considering their specific load requirements. Engagement with Uisce Éireann’s connections and developer services team ahead of planning a project is recommended and required. Uisce Éireann recognises the need to enhance wastewater treatment capacity in Kanturk and a planned upgrade is under way. This project is currently at the strategic assessment stage, where Uisce Éireann develops the project rationale and objectives, project outcomes, lists of potential options and an indicative range of costs. This work will continue in 2026 as the project progresses to a preliminary business case, which should be completed by quarter 1 of 2027. This involves undertaking a detailed analysis, developing a shortlist of solutions and finding a preferred option for the shortlisted projects.
That should be achievable in a shorter period of time. I will take that back to Uisce Éireann because the Deputy is correct. We cannot have a situation where we cannot have development in an area. The Deputy said it is not acceptable or sustainable and I agree with him in relation to that. There may be elements of bridging infrastructure that may be possible. I also point to the new developer-led wastewater services infrastructure initiative, which took effect on 4 March 2026. This might be an option for housing development in the interim. This developer-led infrastructure enables developers to design and construct wastewater infrastructure, in conjunction with Uisce Éireann, to agreed standards with the infrastructure owned by Uisce Eireann upon completion.
In areas such as Kanturk where capacity is currently constrained, an application under the developer-led infrastructure initiative may provide a pathway to support development in advance of planned network upgrades, subject to meeting the relevant technical, environmental and planning requirements. Uisce Éireann is available to engage with developers at an early stage to assess proposals and support the progression of suitable projects. Uisce Éireann has made investments in upgrading wastewater treatment infrastructure across County Cork since 2014 and remains committed to doing so under the future investment plans, which the Government has funded under the national development plan to the tune of €11.7 billion. This investment is going to support the delivery of key projects in cities and regions to deliver additional water services capacity for the new housing targets. That is what we expect Uisce Éireann to do with the capital allocations that we have made as a Government.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-15