Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 November 2014
482. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if a failure on the part of Irish Water to collect revenues due to it could result in a requirement for further equity capital to be injected into the company; if it will be provided by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42853/14]
View answerIrish Water's costs in the coming years will be funded through a mix of revenue from the domestic and non-domestic sector, third party finance (including bank lending and capital markets facilities) and State support which may be in the form of both equity and subvention.
Following a recent consultation process the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) announced its decision on the Water Charges Plan (WCP) proposed by Irish Water. The amount billed to domestic customers for the year 2015 based on the charging structure announced will be in the order of €300 million, while that for non-domestic customers will be in the order of €230 million. The funding model, based on the introduction of domestic charges, provides for more sustainable funding for the sector for the future and will allow Irish Water, like other commercial State bodies, to access capital for investment from commercial lenders. The collection of water charges revenue is of fundamental importance and failure to collect such revenues would adversely impact Irish Water’s capacity to accelerate necessary investment in public water infrastructure.
