Irish Water will delay rural plans

Badly needed water and sewerage schemes worth tens of millions of euro in West Cork could be delayed because it is feared Irish Water will prioritise projects in urban centres.

A number of county councillors from the region expressed concern yesterday, having heard that a “business case” now has to be put to Irish Water for these projects, as the new authority has total control of the budgets for all such developments.

County engineer David Keane told a meeting of councillors in Clonakilty that Irish Water now has to be consulted on ongoing projects, and effectively the local authority had “lost a considerable element of control” as Irish Water would make all the decisions from now on.