No room for growth in status 'red' Laois towns and villages
Laois TD tells housing minister all population growth cannot be focused on Portlaoise
Recent changes in Laois to allow thousands of extra homes to be built must be accompanied by investment in water infrastructure, according to a Laois TD who says some areas earmarked for growth are labelled as red by Uisce Éireann in terms of wastewater, so they can’t take new homes.
Portlaoise - based TD Brian Stanley challenged the Minister for Housing, James Browne, in the Dáil to provide sufficient funding to Uisce Éireann to upgrade the wastewater systems in towns and villages in the wider Dublin commuter belt, which he said now includes Laois, where lands have been rezoned.
Laois County Councillors unanimously voted for changes to the County Development Plan in June to pave the way for up to 8,000 new dwellings. The council said this followed consultation with Uisce Eireann, ESB and other key stakeholders. However, the independent TD is not convinced that houses can be built on some of the newly rezoned areas which he said would bring an increase of approximately 25% in the population in four or five years.
“They cannot all be in Portlaoise. I understand, and I support it to solve the housing crisis, that we need to strengthen villages and smaller towns to provide an option for people to live in a village structure where they are close to pubs, shops, community centres and schools. This means upgrading the water system.
“Uisce Éireann earmarked four villages in Laois for its small villages and towns scheme. One has been done in Ballyroan, and I welcome this, but those in Borris-in-Ossory, Ballinakill and Ballybrittas have not. They were all earmarked by Uisce Éireann. Somebody needs to intervene to tell Uisce Éireann that these need to be upgraded. In the case of Borris-in-Ossory, 160 extra houses are planned for the extra land. There are 56 planned for Ballinakill and 437 for Graiguecullen. These cannot be provided without the infrastructure,” he said.
He claimed Graiguecullen, Borris-in-Ossory, and Ballinakill are all in the red.
“They have been labelled as red by Uisce Éireann in terms of wastewater; in other words, no development can take place. The lands and the extra houses in each of these areas that I mentioned are in addition to what is already under construction or what is already zoned. We need to strengthen our villages and towns,” he said.
He said Laois County Council was not ‘behind the curve’ when it came to facilitating housing but the local authority needs help from the Government and Uisce Éireann.
Minister Browne said Uisce Éireann has ramped up capital delivery capability for water services and infrastructure from €300 million in 2014 to €1.4 billion as part of Budget 2026. Under the national development plan he said the Government is supporting the utility with a record allocation of €11.7 billion in funding out to 2030.
He said Dep Stanley had made an “important point” in relation to capacity.
“ We are asking local authorities to rezone a significant amount of land to deliver additional housing. I encourage local authorities to complete this process. I am not happy with the time that many local authorities are taking in what is a housing crisis. I do not believe many local authorities have been treating it as such with the delays in delivering additional zoned land, which is essential to deliver homes and solve the housing crisis in this country so the houses can get built.
“In relation to villages, we have introduced developer-led infrastructure to allow developers to be able to provide wastewater facilities in our villages, which is absolutely crucial. Deputy Stanley rightly points out using over the shop units. Using existing services and regeneration in our towns are also crucial.
“With regard to Borris-in-Ossory, as Deputy Stanley is aware, Uisce Éireann commenced works to upgrade the Borris-in-Ossory wastewater treatment plant to support future growth and development, with works beginning in March 2026. This is a €4.1 million investment that will benefit homes. The works are expected to be completed in autumn 2027,” he said.
He said the Laios TD was right there is a reluctance in Uisce Éireann to take over legacy wastewater projects because of the cost involved or legacy issues. However, he said new developer-led infrastructure projects have been worked out “very carefully” with the EPA and Uisce Éireann.