Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 25 April 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Response to National Emergencies: Irish Water

9:30 am

Mr. Jerry Grant:

That is the orbital sewer. Included is the treatment plant at Clonshaugh and an outfall north of, or around, Portmarnock. That scheme will also go to An Bord Pleanála this year, probably a couple of months later. I would say it will be in the late summer or early autumn. The objective will be to proceed to construction in the coming years, primarily because we will be limited in the north-west quadrant, which is a huge development area right across the airport zone, in terms of how much wastewater development we can facilitate to get into the centre of the city. The long-term strategy is to have two treatment plants, with the vast bulk treated at Ringsend. The Clonshaugh plant will never be more than one third of the size of the plant at Ringsend at its ultimate stage of development. Those two plants will cater for the entire city region out to and including parts of Meath such as Ashbourne and Ratoath and right out to Dunboyne.