Photograph: ESBReforms in how big infrastructure projects are delivered should speed up two “critical” water schemes, according to Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure Jack Chambers. A meeting of the Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure discussed two projects – the plan to build a pipeline from the river Shannon to supply water to Dublin and the Midlands, and the Greater Dublin Drainage Project – on Monday. Uisce Éireann’s plan to extract water from the river Shannon – called the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midland Region – is estimated to cost between €4.6 billion and as much as €10 billion in a worst-case scenario. Chambers said on Wednesday that forthcoming legislation “will help accelerate delivery of these critical projects”. He said the cumulative effect of the reforms “should speed delivery for these projects”.

Source: The Irish Times February 26, 2026 10:32 UTC