I am delighted to be in Cork today to officially open the Cork Main Drainage Scheme.
This opening marks the culmination of one of the largest and most challenging engineering and environmental projects ever to be undertaken in the State. At a cost of some €279 million, €108 million of which came from the European Union’s Cohesion Fund, this project is set to have a huge environmental and economic impact on Cork City and its environs.
The management and coordination of the 21 contracts that made up the Cork Main Drainage Scheme represented a huge undertaking. In particular, I would like to thank the City Manager, Joe Gavin, and Cork City Council for their excellent stewardship of the entire project. At its peak, the Scheme provided employment for 450 staff and saw in the region of €1 million per week being reinvested in the local economy.
Not only did the City Council oversee the project, they also had great foresight to avail of the opportunities created to undertake other maintenance work on utility services in the city. In addition, I know that the project also yielded some significant archaeological finds. The agreed programme of archaeological testing and excavation, under the general direction of the City Archaeologist, has given us great insight into the development of this city over many centuries.
I know that the scheme also received the kind of cross community support, which is often rare in large undertakings of this kind. An Garda Síochána, Bus Éireann, the public service providers and the business community all pulled together to enable the project be completed with the minimum of disruption to the wider community. The people of Cork themselves demonstrated great understanding and showed great support during this huge-scale initiative.
As a result of the completion of this project, all direct discharges of untreated wastewater from the city centre into the River Lee have been eliminated. The raw sewage and polluted water, that had previously been flowing into the river and through Cork City each day, is now being treated in a state-of-the-art treatment plant at Carrigrennan on Little Island.
I gather that the treated effluent being discharged surpasses the standard required by the EU and is, in fact, comparable to the quality of normal river water.
This is having a major impact not only on the river estuary, but also on the upper reaches of Cork Harbour and areas in the county such as Douglas, Rochestown, Little Island, Riverstown and Glanmire.
In addition to the enormous environmental return, the Cork Main Drainage Scheme provides the foundation on which development of areas like the Docklands can take place. As part of the National Development Plan, 11 further water services schemes in Cork City are included in the Water Services Investment Programme of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Among these are:
· the Cork City Tivoli Water Supply Scheme;
· the Docklands Water Supply Scheme; and
· the Docklands Surface Water Drainage Scheme.
The value of these three schemes is currently estimated at over €12 million, with the Tivoli scheme expected to start next year. I know that the City Council is currently developing plans for the two Docklands schemes as well.
The completion of the Cork Main Drainage Scheme will also allow many of the features of the Cork Area Strategic Plan to be put into place. The CASP provides a framework to enable Cork to become a major national growth centre. And, in recognition of this, the Water Services Investment Programme makes provision for a local authority study of the sewerage and water supply infrastructure, in and around the City in the context of CASP.
This will enable us to gain a comprehensive overview of the measures needed to ensure the ongoing sustainable development of this city at all levels.
Given the year that is in it for Cork as European Capital of Culture, it is wonderful that the river Lee, which is such a significant natural feature in the city, can now take pride of place once again. Due to the renewed water quality, the potential for tourism, water-based recreation and riverside development is immense. In fact, we already saw the river play a vital role during the opening ceremony for the European Capital of Culture this year. I have no doubt that over the coming years such innovative use of the river and its environs will continue to grow. Equally, the benefits of the infrastructure provided by the Cork Main Drainage Scheme will be very significant in attracting further inward investment to Cork city.
All in all, this points to good grounds for optimism for the future development of this city. Once again, I pay tribute to all those who have ensured the successful completion of this significant project.
Thank you.
ENDS