Groups lobbying against plans to extract water from Lough Derg in order to boost supplies in Dublin say they remain strongly opposed to the plan, despite the current difficulties in the capital.
As over a million people continue affected by water shortages in and around Dublin, officials have cited the Shannon project as one way to minimise future concerns.
Pegged for completion in 2020, it will see water taken from Lough Derg to a resevoir in Co. Laois and then onwards to water consumers in the East and Midlands.
Labour Senator John Whelan has called for a strategy to push the development ahead, but Gerry Siney of the Shannon Protection Alliance thinks money should be directed into the existing network.
Meanwhile, the Minister for the Environment will travel to the Ballymore Eustace water treatment plant in County Kildare today.
Phil Hogan is believed to be seeking assurances that supply will return to normal in the Dublin area after Thursday.
Restrictions were introduced last week after council engineers discovered a problem at the Kildare plant which slowed production and didn’t have sufficient reserves to meet demand.
