Wastewater Priority Areas List

This Programme is designed to support:

• The protection and improvement of Ireland’s water environment by targeting investment and corrective actions in wastewater agglomerations identified by the EPA as presenting the highest environmental risk.  
• Compliance with national and European environmental legislation, including the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and Water Framework Directive objectives, through the delivery of capital works, operational improvements, environmental assessments and other corrective measures.
• The prioritisation of investment and resources in locations where wastewater discharges have the greatest potential to impact receiving waters, bathing waters, shellfish waters, freshwater pearl mussel catchments and other sensitive environmental receptors.  

A number of investment cycles and improvement programmes will be required to address the environmental risks and compliance challenges associated with Priority Areas List (PAL) agglomerations. As projects progress through assessment, business case development, design, planning, procurement and construction stages, further investment will be needed to deliver sustainable compliance outcomes and support the long-term protection of the environment.

Uisce Éireann will continue to work collaboratively with the EPA and other stakeholders to reduce the number of agglomerations on the PAL through targeted investment, operational improvements and timely delivery of corrective actions. The Programme will continue into future investment periods, subject to regulatory approvals, funding availability and investment prioritisation processes.

• The EPA issues the Priority Areas List (PAL) twice each year, identifying wastewater agglomerations that require prioritised investment or corrective action due to environmental risk, regulatory non-compliance or impacts on sensitive receiving waters. Uisce Éireann reviews each agglomeration and develops appropriate corrective action plans to address the identified issues.
• For each PAL agglomeration, Uisce Éireann assesses the underlying causes of the environmental concern and identifies the most appropriate response. Actions may include capital investment projects, process optimisation, network improvements, environmental assessments, maintenance activities, licence reviews or other operational measures.
• Progress is reported to the EPA through regular PAL submissions, which provide updates on planned actions, project stages, delivery timelines and expected environmental outcomes. Projects are progressed through the relevant Uisce Éireann investment and delivery stages, from strategic assessment and business case development through to design, construction and completion.
• The PAL is a dynamic programme. Agglomerations may be removed from the list where corrective actions have been successfully implemented and environmental objectives achieved, while new agglomerations may be added where emerging risks or compliance issues are identified. Uisce Éireann continues to update priority actions and investment plans in response to EPA assessments and changing environmental conditions.
• Information on PAL progress, including investment delivery and improvements achieved, will be updated regularly as corrective actions advance and regulatory priorities evolve.

The Infrastructure Guidelines, published in December 2023, sets out the value for money guidelines for the evaluation, planning and management of public investment projects, including purchase or acquisitions of assets or shareholdings. As a body in receipt of public funding, we must comply, as appropriate, with the relevant requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines.

The Infrastructure Guidelines has a multi-stage approvals process to facilitate the delivery of a capital project and we align our internal approvals process to these project lifecycle stages. The project stages must be adhered to and are subject to procurement, planning, legal and environmental regulations.