Stagnation of west Mayo wastewater treatment plant project 'unacceptable'

THE continued failure to deliver the long-awaited wastewater treatment plant for Newport shows how little urgency the government is attaching to the project despite decades of promises, says Sinn Féin Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh.

Speaking following an Oireachtas meeting with Uisce Éireann, Deputy Conway-Walsh said: “Prior to the general election last year, I sought assurances that the Newport treatment plant be fast tracked by the incoming government, citing that residents and businesses in Newport couldn’t wait until 2030 for it to be delivered.

“To now learn that we are still at Stage 2 Preliminary Business Case, developing a short list of solutions, preferred options and estimate costs is deeply concerning.

“The complexities presented at this week’s meeting to secure a Maritime Usage Licence when in the past a foreshore licence could have enabled the works is a consequence of the years of delay.”

She explained: “Back in 2024 Uisce Éireann confirmed to me that the project was at the Preliminary Business Case stage. On Monday we were told that the project remains at Preliminary Business Case.

“This is simply not acceptable at all.”

Added Deputy Conway-Walsh: “Businesses and residents in Newport have been made promise after promise that the treatment plant would be delivered, yet here we are in 2025 and no resolution to the problem.

“The government needs to confirm whether funding has been ringfenced for this project and the minister needs to liaise directly with Uisce Éireann and the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority to move the project on swiftly.

“I have written to the minister again to voice my serious concerns that this vital piece of infrastructure will not be delivered until 2030. This is probably one of the greatest successive government failures in Mayo.

“It’s time the government and all the associated bodies got their acts together. If additional engineers and expertise is needed to fast track this project then that is what needs to be done.

“I am asking the government to pull out all the stops and deliver this vital piece of infrastructure in Mayo.

“As always I will work with all elected representatives and agencies to get this treatment plant delivered.”