Regulators are poised to back State water company Uisce Éireann’s plans to spend almost €14 billion on tackling an infrastructure squeeze seen as critical to new home building.
The water company has asked the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) for the go-ahead to spend €13.8 billion on more than 200 water treatment and waste plants among other projects from this year to 2029.
A CRU draft ruling proposes to allow Uisce Éireann spend €13.6 billion over that period, less than the total that the company sought but a 50 per cent increase on what it invested over the previous five years, the regulator confirmed on Tuesday.
Uisce Éireann will spend €8.56 billion on new water supply and waste treatment facilities and €5.02 billion on its operations, under the plans the commission says it will approve, pending public consultation.
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They cover work on 163 new and existing treatment plants in areas where water quality is at risk, 61 waste handling facilities, 239km of pipelines, work to ensure discharged waste water complies with rules, pumping stations and other infrastructure.
Fergal Mulligan, CRU commissioner, cautioned that the regulator had identified crucial targets that Uisce Éireann must meet in return for getting its plans approved.
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Bottlenecks in the State’s water supply system emerged as a key barrier to new house building earlier this year, when the company warned the Government that it faced serious challenges in building infrastructure needed to facilitate the coalition’s 50,000 a-year housing target.
Separate to the investment proposals, the Government pledged €1.4 billion in Budget 2026 to Uisce Éireann from National Development Plan funds to provide supply and waste water treatment facilities needed to support new home building.
Mr Mulligan argued that the cash was needed to facilitate new house construction and to support economic development.
“It will address years of under funding in the country’s water sector and is the largest we have ever proposed,” he said.
The CRU is putting its draft to public consultation before deciding on whether to finally approve the plans.
Justin Johnston, Uisce Éireann’s strategy, resilience and regulation director, welcomed the news.
Uisce Éireann will use the cash to help fund national projects including Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region, which will ship water from the Shannon to big population centres in Leinster, and the greater Dublin drainage scheme.
It will also go to providing additional water and wastewater treatment capacity, cutting leaks and boosting energy efficiency.
“We encourage communities, stakeholders, and individuals to have their say on our ambitious plans,” he said.
