Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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105. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to outline the current and future status of Uisce Éireann; whether additional capital funding will be allocated following the revelation that the €1 billion announced as part of Budget 2025 was not for additional capital investment; to outline the additional funding Government intend to provide to cover the shortfall from this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24503/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Uisce Éireann Strategic Funding Plan 2025-2029 was approved in November 2024 and sets out an ambitious capital investment plan to address historic under-investment in water services, and to make necessary improvements to water and wastewater infrastructure including new capacity to facilitate growth.

The €1 billion in capital investment in Uisce Éireann was in addition to the Voted funding provided in Budget 2025 and is part of the funding mix for the Strategic Funding Plan 2025-2029 that will support the delivery of significant improvements in our public water and wastewater services, support improved water supplies right across Ireland, including rural Ireland, and support a range of programmes delivering improved water quality in our rivers, lakes and marine area.

It’s acknowledged that the Strategic Funding Plan for 2025-2029 does not take account of the new housing targets as they were set after the plan was submitted. Therefore, the Minister is reviewing an additional funding request from Uisce Éireann, on top of the Strategic Funding Plan 2025-2029, as indicated in the Programme for Government as part of the review of the National Development Plan, which is to be completed in the coming months.