One the key benefits of establishing Irish Water as a commercial utility is that it will be able to access capital markets to raise the funds needed to tackle infrastructure deficit in water services infrastructure in a timely manner. So, in the future, the borrowings of Irish Water will not affect the national or general government debt. To access capital markets, Irish Water needs to have credibility in terms of collateral and capacity to service its debt.
The identification and quantification of the relevant financial liabilities transferring from Local Authorities to Irish Water is one of the key tasks being undertaken as part of the overall financial exercise currently being conducted between Irish Water and Local Authorities. My officials have been informed by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government that a due diligence exercise is underway which, when completed, will clarify the position on the non-domestic debtors, along with any unfunded capital balances and any other miscellaneous debtors that are to transfer to Irish Water. When the due diligence exercise is completed the opening balance sheet take-on from Local Authorities will be known.