Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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435. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide a detailed breakdown of his recent assertion that the cost of abolishing Irish Water would be €1billion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32025/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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My comments, in April, that the cost of the abolition  of Irish Water could be around €900 million, some €300 million from the potential loss in revenue from domestic charges and a further €600 million in capital on balance sheet,  were made before the Eurostat determination on whether Irish Water expenditure was to be considered as part of Government expenditure or not.

In the Spring Economic Statement, the Government made the operating assumption that, pending the Eurostat decision on the classification of Irish Water, the figures associated with Irish Water would be included within the General Government sector. As a result, the recent Eurostat determination has no implications for the published fiscal space for the Budget. 

In the longer term, if unchanged, the Eurostat decision would  mean that capital expenditure on water infrastructure would have to compete with other investment requirements. In addition to the costs I have outlined above, there could be other costs from the abolition of Irish Water, depending on the nature of the body or bodies to be given responsibility for managing the public water infrastructure were that to arise, including the long-term efficiencies foregone from Irish Water's centralised Utility model and the gains from economies of scale.