Councillors in West Cork have demanded answers from Uisce Éireann after learning that planned interim upgrades to Dunmanway's wastewater treatment plant will now only provide capacity for 15 new homes rather than the 50 previously indicated.

The issue was raised by Fianna Fáil's Deirdre Kelly and Independent Ireland's Daniel Sexton at a meeting of Cork County Council's West Cork Municipal District.

Ms Kelly said the revised figure only emerged after a member of the local wastewater committee contacted Uisce Éireann seeking an update on the project.

“The goalposts are constantly moving,” she said. “In the space of two years, the capacity for the town has gone from zero, to 50, to 15.” She said only one house had been built in Dunmanway since 2023 and described the changing figures as unfair to residents and public representatives.

Mr Sexton said the original announcement that capacity would be provided for 50 homes had been welcomed as a step in the right direction. “But 15 houses is a disaster,” he said.

“There are people moving to Bandon, Clonakilty and Bantry because they can't get housing here. Businesses can't expand because the whole town is being stunted by this.” 

He said the lack of housing was affecting people's ability to plan for the future and was damaging the town's development prospects.

Independent Ireland's Danny Collins said the situation highlighted why water services should never have been removed from local authority control, while Social Democrats representative Isobel Towse questioned how capacity estimates had changed so significantly in recent weeks.

Ms Towse said figures supplied by Uisce Éireann in April appeared to indicate capacity for significantly more than 15 homes following the interim works. 

Councillors also criticised communication from Uisce Éireann, with Mr Sexton saying elected members were not being kept adequately informed of developments.

Municipal district officer Eimear O'Neill said a letter would be sent to Uisce Éireann seeking an explanation for the reduction in projected housing capacity.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.

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