Prior to 1 January 2014 capital funding for public water services was provided from my Department’s Water Services Investment programme (WSIP) and Rural Water Programme (RWP). Funding for operational expenditure has, in the main, come from the Local Government Fund (LGF). The Fund has historically provided local authorities with finance for funding some of their day-to-day activities, including elements of water services costs, through General Purpose Grant allocations. As a result of the introduction of Local Property Tax in 2013 and the establishment of Irish Water, the local government funding model has changed considerably in 2014. In 2014 the Local Government Fund’s budget provide for funding of €486.5m to Irish Water for water-related expenditures incurred previously by local authorities.
The payments made from the Local Government Fund to Irish Water to date in 2014 are set out in the table below.
|
Date
|
Amount
|
|
11 March 2014
|
€121,500,000
|
|
3 April 2014
|
€40,500,000
|
|
8 May 2014
|
€162,000,000
|
|
3 July 2014
|
€40,500,000
|
|
10 September 2014
|
€20,000,000
|
|
25 September 2014
|
€40,000,000
|
|
Total to Date
|
€424,500,000
|
It is anticipated that a further €14.5m will be paid to Irish Water in December.
The remainder of the €486.5m is being paid directly to local authorities in respect of water-related loan recoupment costs. €23.9m was paid directly to local authorities for this purpose in August 2014 and i t is anticipated that a further €23.5m will be paid in December.
All decisions in relation to Local Government Fund income and expenditure for 2015 will be finalised as part of the Revised Estimates Volume process. It is envisaged that the subvention to Irish Water in 2015 will be some €399m.
