Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
511. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the key measures taken to enhance water services during 2025; his priorities for 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73541/25]
View answerWater services play an essential role - in enabling economic growth, social inclusion, environmental sustainability and the delivery of our housing need.
Securing safe and reliable water supply is a top priority for the Government, as is securing water to facilitate the development at pace and at scale of homes in all parts of the country.
Both our water and wastewater systems require substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles to bring the systems up to the quality and resilience standards required of a modern service; to provide for population growth and to build resilience in the face of climate change.
This Government is delivering a sustainable funding path to further enhance the ongoing significant improvements in our public water and wastewater services.
In the last 10 years there been record levels of investment in water infrastructure. Uisce Éireann has ramped up capital delivery capability for water services and infrastructure from €300m in 2014 to roughly €1.3 billion in 2024.
In 2025, €1,704m was allocated to Uisce Éireann as part of its voted funding, consisting of €720m current and €983m capital funding. In addition, as part of budget 2025, a €1 billion capital investment was announced by the Minister for Finance, of which Uisce Éireann received €514m as the first instalment in 2025. Further allocations from this €1 billion will be made in the coming years.
The Government’s support for improving our water infrastructure continues to grow along with the continued development of water services in Ireland that are reflective of best international practice.
Building on major reforms over the last decade, public water services will continue to be delivered to the majority of the population by Uisce Éireann, the national authority for water services.
There will also be continued support provided to those communities and individuals not served by public water services and who provide water services for themselves along with investment to restore and improve water quality in rivers, lakes and coastal waters.
The Sectoral Plan for Water Services and Water Quality published in November will form a crucial part of the Government’s implementation of the National Development Plan.
The delivery of essential infrastructure is a key driver in ensuring our economy’s competitiveness and resilience, and water is a key part of this infrastructure.
Over the next five years record funding of €12.2 billion will be allocated to the water sector, and 95% of this will be allocated to Uisce Éireann. This investment in our national water utility will support the delivery of a wide range of projects in our cities and regions required for public health and safeguarding the environment, and the delivery of the additional water services capacity required for the new housing targets. This Government is delivering a sustainable funding path to further enhance the ongoing significant improvements in our public water and wastewater services.
The revised NDP represents the largest ever capital investment plan in the history of water services and water quality and will support the upgrading of our water and wastewater infrastructure to enable social inclusion, environmental sustainability and housing delivery.
