West Cork towns 'dying a death' from lack of housing due to water and sewerage issues

Cork County Council seeks report from Uisce Éireann on all water and sewerage capacity issues and called for developers to be allowed carry out water projects themselves to get more houses built

Councillors said if Uisce Éireann officials oversee water and wastewater projects to ensure they are of an acceptable standard, there should be no problem with developers building badly-needed homes and the utility taking in charge of water and sewerage systems once completed.

Cork County Council is seeking a comprehensive report from Uisce Éireann on all water and sewerage capacity issues in its region, while calling for developers to be permitted to carry out water and wastewater projects themselves.

The council is to write to the utility and minister for housing James Browne on the two issues following a motion from Independent councillor Finbarr Harrington, who said towns and villages in the region were stagnating, even though many developers are willing to carry out water and wastewater infrastructure services as part their housing projects.

He said most towns and villages in the West Cork region were at or very close to capacity for such infrastructure and these deficits could be addressed by developers.

Mr Harrington and other councillors said if Uisce Éireann officials oversee such projects to ensure they are of an acceptable standard, there should be no problem with developers building badly-needed homes and the utility taking in charge of water and sewerage systems once completed.

Mayor of County Cork Joe Carroll said Mr Harrington’s motion “makes absolute sense”. Fine Gael councillor Kay Dawson claimed Mitchelstown “has lost a generation” because young families moved elsewhere as no houses have been built, with the sewerage treatment plant at capacity.

Social Democrats councillor Eamon Horgan claimed the department and Uisce Éireann were not working in tandem to tackle the need for new housing “to salvage towns and villages which are dying a death". 

Independent councillor Alan Coleman said during the Celtic Tiger-era, some developers got a bad name by putting in substandard infrastructure, but lessons had to be learnt from that and if the work was properly supervised, these issues should not arise again.

Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre Kelly said no new houses have been built in her hometown of Dunmanway since 2023 because of Uisce Éireann capacity deficiencies, yet several local developers have said they would gladly do that work themselves.

Council chief executive Moira Murrell said “given the scale of issues across the county”, the local authority is prepared to work with the Uisce Éireann and the department to address “the urgency of what is required” and “look at new solutions and innovations”.