Ireland designates Shannon water project as critical infrastructure

On 24 July 2026 the Irish government designated the largest water project in the country's history as 'critical infrastructure' in the first tranche under the Critical Infrastructure Act 2026 (see the policy entry of 24 July 2026). The designation obliges the public bodies involved to prioritise the case, run processes in parallel and shorten timelines. Uisce Éireann plans to abstract water from the Parteen Basin (Co. Tipperary), treat it at Birdhill and pipe it roughly 172 km through Tipperary, Offaly and Kildare to Peamount (Co. Dublin), with offtakes along the route; according to Uisce Éireann the scheme could cover the needs of up to 50% of Ireland's population. In July 2026 An Coimisiún Pleanála pushed its decision on the application back by up to a year to no later than 2 July 2027; Uisce Éireann still targets water entering supply in 2032, with construction starting in 2028. The cost estimate of EUR 4.6–5.9 billion comes from Irish media reporting (including RTÉ and the Limerick Post, 7 July 2026), not from the government's designation announcement.