Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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391. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he plans to extract water from Lough Derg to service the demand in the Dublin/Leinster area; if he will outline in detail his plans including the timeframe; if an environmental impact assessment is required and has been carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19767/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Dublin Water Supply (Long-Term Water Source) Scheme is included in my Department’s Water Services Investment Programme 2010 – 2013 , as a scheme to advance through planning. Dublin City Council is the lead authority for this scheme, on behalf of all of the water services authorities in the Greater Dublin Area. The Council has examined a number of options to supplement the existing sources of supply, including abstraction from the River Shannon, abstraction from the Rivers Liffey and Barrow, abstraction from groundwater and desalination. The options examined for taking water from the River Shannon included the possibility of abstraction from Lough Derg, Lough Ree, the Parteen Basin , or a combination of some of these locations.

Dublin City Council has completed a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the project and has prepared a Preliminary Report. I understand that the Council is in the process of appointing consultants to further progress the planning of the scheme, including the preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment, which will, in due course, be submitted to An Bord Pleanála for consideration, in conjunction with a planning application.