Uisce Éireann has warned the Government of a “critical” need for a wide range of regulatory and legislative reforms if it is to meet the “immense” task it faces and enable new housing targets.
In a detailed document sent to the Government and seen by The Irish Times, it suggests a host of planning, legal, regulatory and consenting issues should be addressed – including fast-tracking decisions by An Bord Pleanála on strategic projects.
In a letter to Minister of State for Planning John Cummins last month, accompanied by the extensive dossier of issues, the utility warned: “The scale of the task is immense. We have flagged the need for change for some years and it is now critical, particularly in light of the revised housing targets.”
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It is asking for an immediate ministerial direction telling An Bord Pleanála to prioritise its strategic projects, the expansion of exempted development provisions, as well as parallel decision-making and mandatory timelines for different bodies.
It outlines the need for, among many other things, a general overhaul of waste water discharge regulations, describing the licensing regime as “complex, slow and uncertain”, which it says results in “significant delays, costs and risks”.
It says that under these regulations it is obliged to provide historical planning documents going back 50 or 60 years to the Environmental Protection Agency before an application can be lodged.
“This can (and has) added months, if not years to applications going back and forth with local authorities trying to locate documents that in all likelihood do not exist.”
It flags multiple projects that have been bogged down in planning and appeals, including a pump station extension in Fingal to enable 1,200 housing units which spent 57 weeks in local authority planning, 61 weeks with An Bord Pleanála and is now subject to judicial review.
It outlined that delays in delivering and regulating its infrastructure and operations have “direct consequences to the ability to deliver key Government policies ... including the new revised housing targets”.
It said that a single upgrade to a wastewater treatment plant can require multiple consenting processing, from planning to environmental consents and compulsory purchase orders.
“[It] may be a critical upgrade, but it will take years to prepare applications and obtain all the required consents, each of which has the potential to be challenged,” Uisce Éireann wrote – even when only minor changes are being sought.
It said that legislative and policy reforms are “needed urgently”.
“It is incredibly difficult to deliver our goals, which are intertwined with Government goals, without legislative and policy change,” it wrote.
Against the backdrop of criticism of UÉ by Government parties, it also said it would “welcome support and recognition” of its mission, pointing to provisions in strategic infrastructure legislation on delivering infrastructure in the common good.
“[This] is a narrative that should be central to Government communications,” it wrote, particularly around megaprojects which have become bogged down, such as the Greater Dublin Drainage project and tapping the Shannon for water supply.
Among other reforms, it also wants more accountability on decision making, revision to Environmental Impact Assessment thresholds, and improved arrangements for the transfer of public land to UÉ. Better resourcing and training should be in place for the courts services, planning authorities and utility connection providers, it said.
In a statement, UÉ said after recent engagements with Government and senior officials, it was asked for proposals on potential legislative and regulatory reforms.
“Uisce Éireann therefore prepared an extensive overview of potential measures that could be implemented and has shared these with relevant departments. It is expected that these potential legislative and regulatory changes would be considered by Government,” it said.
