Uisce Éireann under fire as sewage pollution in Arklow Harbour sparks public health fears

By Hugh O'Farrell Walsh, The Wicklow People

Uisce Éireann is facing mounting criticism in Wicklow as pollution in Arklow Harbour, unanswered correspondence to councillors, and long delays to wastewater infrastructure converge into a growing crisis for the county.

Local representatives say the utility’s failures are now posing public health risks, stalling housing development and eroding public confidence in how water services are being managed.

Concerns in Arklow intensified in recent weeks after a large grease plume spread across the harbour, despite the €140 million investment in the town’s new wastewater treatment plant. The incident reignited long‑standing fears about misconnections and sewage leaks that residents and councillors say have never been fully resolved.

Cllr Peir Leonard said she has contacted Uisce Éireann on several occasions seeking answers about what she believes is a misconnection causing sewage to discharge directly into the harbour, but has received no reply.

“There’s ongoing sewage,” she said at a recent council meeting.

Pollution in Arklow Harbour. © Cllr Warren O'Toole

“There’s sewage coming out into Arklow Harbour due to some sort of misconnection down there. We need an answer.”

Cllr Leonard said the issue is particularly urgent as summer activity increases around the harbour.

“The scouts and a lot of young people will be using that area and it is just not good enough,” she said.

“It is causing substantial distress with the harbour users, and some sort of clarification on where we are on finding out what is happening in relation to that would be very helpful.”

Cllr Warren O’Toole has also raised concerns about harbour pollution, adding to a growing chorus of local representatives demanding clarity and action.

The recurring problems have left many questioning how such incidents can continue after one of the largest wastewater investments in Wicklow’s history.

In response, council chief executive Emer O’Gorman said officials would look at “legacy mapping issues with some of the pipe work in the various districts”.

She indicated the council is putting resources in place to examine where the surface water drainage is going to, “because it is having impacts when we get heavy rains”.

Local Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan said he was “horrified” by the latest pollution and called for a swift and thorough investigation to ensure there is no repeat occurrence.

Deputy Brennan’s concerns were sharpened during a recent meeting he held with Uisce Éireann, where he pressed the utility on both the Arklow Harbour pollution and the broader wastewater backlog across Wicklow.

He said the meeting confirmed that several Wicklow projects remain stalled, with little clarity on timelines and no firm commitments on delivery.

Wicklow-Wexford TD Brian Brennan at a recent meeting with representatives of Uisce Éireann.

The Wicklow Wexford TD said he received assurances of “ongoing engagement”, but stressed that the level of communication to date has been wholly inadequate. “This is an exceptionally serious matter,” he said. “A thorough and swift investigation must be concluded as a matter of urgency.”

The communication failures highlighted by councillors are echoed at national level.

Local Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne has repeatedly criticised Uisce Éireann’s responsiveness, saying TDs are being forced to table parliamentary questions that are then ruled out of order, leaving no mechanism to obtain essential details about stalled projects.

“The level of response and the slow rate of response to queries from members of the Oireachtas is not acceptable,” he said.

Deputy Byrne’s remarks, though covering both Wicklow and Wexford, reflect a pattern Wicklow representatives say they experience regularly: slow replies, unclear timelines and a lack of transparency around major works.

Responding in the Dáil, Taoiseach Micheál Martin acknowledged concerns about the utility’s communication and said Uisce Éireann has undertaken a review of its engagement with elected representatives.

He noted that the organisation is accountable to the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Committee of Public Accounts, but accepted that these mechanisms relate mainly to governance rather than operational transparency.

He said he would raise the matter again with the Minister and emphasised the need for demonstrable improvement.

While Arklow’s pollution issues have dominated recent headlines, Wicklow is also grappling with significant delays to wastewater infrastructure elsewhere. In Aughrim, Uisce Éireann has confirmed that construction of the long‑awaited wastewater treatment plant is not expected to begin before 2029.

For a town already constrained by years of capacity limits, the revised timeline effectively blocks new housing for the rest of the decade. Schools, childcare providers, sports clubs and local services have all warned that without new homes, they cannot sustain numbers or plan for future growth.

In a short statement, Uisce Éireann previously said the project could move sooner “if more funding becomes available for the project and the tender process moves forward,” but offered no indication that either is likely.

Deputy Brennan said the delay is “hugely detrimental” to Aughrim’s future and warned that the lack of wastewater capacity is now directly preventing the town from thriving.

He welcomed the government’s developer‑led wastewater initiative, which allows small treatment systems for housing schemes of up to 40 units, but stressed that such measures cannot replace full‑town infrastructure.

“We cannot allow Uisce Éireann to hand over all responsibility,” he said. “They must take the lead for wastewater treatment for towns like Aughrim as a whole.” he added.