Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. State funding provided to Irish Water since its inception in 2014 including the estimate for 2021 is set out in the table below:
Table
The Irish Water Strategic Funding Plan 2019-2024 sets out Irish Water’s multi-annual strategic business planning funding requirement of €11bn to 2024, comprising a €6.1bn investment in infrastructure and assets and €4.9bn in operating costs. The Programme for Government commits to funding Irish Water's capital investment plan for drinking water and waste water infrastructure on a multi-annual basis and delivery of the €8.5 billion funding package committed to in Project Ireland 2040. This overall funding commitment is key to addressing Ireland's shortcomings in water and waste water infrastructure.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is the independent economic regulator of Irish Water. In August 2020, the CRU published its determination on Irish Water’s third revenue control (RC3) setting out the total level of allowed revenue that Irish Water can receive, through Government subvention and from customers, to cover its efficiently incurred costs during the period 2020 to 2024. Irish Water's annual exchequer funding for domestic water services is determined through the annual estimates and budgetary process, having regard to the CRU determination under the economic regulatory process.
It may be helpful to note that Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. The team can be contacted via email at Oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on a dedicated number, 1890 578 578.
