Irish Water Strategic Funding Plan 2019-2024

The Minister approved the Irish Water Strategic Funding Plan, without modification, on 7 November 2018, in line with section 34A of the Water Services (No.2) Act 2013 (as inserted by section 19 of the Water Services Act 2017) which has been communicated to Uisce Éireann and furnished to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). The Plan will be subject to economic regulatory review by the CRU as part of its third regulatory control period 2020-2024. The future Exchequer funding allocations implied by the forecasts set out in the Plan reflect the upper ceiling, with final funding allocations to be confirmed based on the outcome of the CRU revenue control process for 2020-24 and as part of the annual Exchequer budgetary process.

The Irish Water Strategic Funding Plan sets out Uisce Éireann's multi-annual strategic funding requirement of €11bn to 2024, comprised of a €6.1bn investment in infrastructure and assets and €4.9bn in operating costs. This funding requirement will be met through a combination of non-domestic revenue, excess usage charges, government subvention, non-domestic borrowings and capital contributions.

The Plan sets out the capital and operational costs expected to be incurred by Uisce Éireann over a multiannual period and how these costs fall to be recovered and will ensure a shared understanding between Government and Uisce Éireann of the broad financial parameters and investment priorities.

The Plan is in line with the new funding model for Uisce Éireann arising from the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Irish Water (April 2017) providing as much funding certainty as possible, in the absence of domestic water charges, and aligning with the cost recovery aspects of the EU Water Framework Directive.