This article is from page 20 of the 2011-11-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
DUBLIN City Council must cough up for the money needed to fund an independent Environment Impact Statement into the proposed plan to pipe water from the Shannon to serve the needs of Dublin water-users before any plans will even be considered.
That was the opinion of the Mayor of Clare, Pat Hayes (FF), following a public meeting attended by members of an Oireachtas Committee, at the proposed water extraction site last week.
According to Cllr Hayes, stakeholders in the region cannot rely on Dublin City Council’s analysis of the impact of the € 500 million project and also called for a study into the economic impact the plan would have on County Clare to be undertaken.
“This is Dublin City Council’s proposal so we cannot and should not accept any report they are putting forward in relation to the potential impact of this mammoth project,” he said.
“The proposal seems to me to be a short-sighted solution to Dublin’s problems. They should firstly solve leaks in their network across the capital and be a little more innovative in finding a solution beyond that. Taking water from Lough Derg is the easy option. I and my fellow elected representatives in Clare won’t stand for it, unless we are completely satisfied there will be no adverse reaction.”
The plan as proposed by Dublin City Council would see € 500 million litres of water pumped daily from the Shannon River at Lough Derg during periods of high-flow and flooding.
“We need an independent Environmental Impact Study commissioned on behalf of Clare, Tipperary, Limerick and Galway local authorities and all other stakeholders, such as the Shannon Region Fisheries Board and the ESB,” continued Cllr Hayes.
“This study must be paid for by Dublin City Council but they should have no other hand, act or part to play in it. It should also have over- riding authority over Dublin City Council’s own environmental statement as well.
“One of the carrots being waved for the project is a multi-million euro eco-park and reservoir planned for Garryhinch in Offaly, with the potential for one million visitors annually. In my mind, this further undermines confidence in the project from a Clare perspective, as how could Dublin City Council possibly suggest that a one-million visitor attraction outside this region could be good for us?”