Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 December 2015
596. 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 in to the company; if that will be provided by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45983/15]
View answerIrish Water is being funded by a combination of domestic and non-domestic water charges, Government support and the raising of debt on capital markets. The main aspects of the Irish Water funding model are set out in a detailed fact sheet published on my Department’s website at the first link below, and for 2015, the total billed income is projected at €500m, of which domestic customers billed income is forecast at €271m.
My Department’s funding letter of 12 May 2015, which is available on my Department’s website at the second link below, reflects the funding commitments for 2015 and 2016 and associated conditions. The conditions around drawdown recognise that there may be variances between forecasts and actual funding attributable to the actual volume of water, number of households and number of children. However, the letter indicates that while this may lead to a funding requirement of less than the amounts agreed by Government, they cannot lead to the position where there would be an expectation of increased Government subvention.
Finally, provision has been made for the issue of working capital loans in 2015 and 2016 to cover cash flow requirements arising from time lags between billing and payment. This amounts to €96m in 2015 with provision for up to €58m in 2016.
Financing Irish Water: http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Environment/Water/FileDownLoad,41371,en.pdf.
Funding letter 12 May 2015: http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Environment/Water/FileDownLoad,41442,en.pdf.
