Ireland's Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region has received green light to proceed to the next stage of its development, after a Detailed Business Case was approved by the Uisce Éireann board and subsequently noted by government.
The approval paves the way for the procurement and tendering process, allowing delivery preparations to accelerate while the planning application submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála in December 2025 continues through the statutory process. This parallel progression of planning and procurement reflects Government policy to reduce delays and shorten delivery timelines.
Costed at between €4.58 billion and €5.96 billion, and subject to planning approval, construction is targeted for 2028
The urgency behind the project is not hard to understand. The Eastern and Midlands region currently depends almost entirely on the River Liffey to supply approximately 1.7 million people, a vulnerability that the project is designed to address. Demand is forecast to outstrip available supply by 34% by 2044.
The project would draw water from Parteen Basin on the lower River Shannon, utilising no more than 2% of its long-term average flow, treat it near Birdhill in County Tipperary, and pipe it 172 kilometres through Tipperary, Offaly, Kildare and South Dublin to a reservoir at Peamount in County Dublin, connecting into the Greater Dublin Area distribution network. Costed at between €4.58 billion and €5.96 billion, and subject to planning approval, construction is targeted for 2028 with a five-year build to follow.
"This project is achieving milestones at pace and we are taking all possible measures to accelerate delivery as it navigates through the statutory planning process," said Maria O'Dwyer, Infrastructure Delivery Director at Uisce Éireann.
Described as a once-in-a-generation undertaking, the largest water infrastructure project in Irish history sits alongside the Greater Dublin Drainage scheme, with both programmes together representing a combined investment of over €7 billion in Irish water and wastewater infrastructure.
