Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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31. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to outline the current and future funding 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; what additional funding the Government intends to provide to cover the shortfall from this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24509/25]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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33. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to confirm that the €1 billion of funding for Uisce Éireann in budget 2025 was not additional money; and to set his response to the utility's request for an additional €2 billion in capital funding out to 2030, including €1.7 billion for urban capacity upgrades and €300 million for rural capacity upgrades, to facilitate the Government's revised housing targets. [24435/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 31 and 33 together.

The Uisce Éireann Strategic Funding Plan 2025-2029 was approved in November 2024 and sets out an ambitious capital investment plan to make necessary improvements to water and wastewater infrastructure including new capacity to facilitate growth.

The Strategic Funding Plan 2025-2029 includes the capital and operational costs expected to be incurred by Uisce Éireann over a multiannual period and how these costs fall to be recovered to ensure a shared understanding between Government and Uisce Éireann of the broad financial parameters and investment priorities. The funding requirement will be met through a combination of non-domestic revenue, government subvention and capital contributions.

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 housing delivery and 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 is 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. The Programme for Government commits to investing additional capital in Uisce Éireann to support reaching our new housing targets. We will prioritise water and waste water infrastructure to deliver the capacity to facilitate housing development in our towns and villages.

Uisce Éireann have submitted a request for an additional €2 billion in capital funding out to 2030, including €1.7 billion for urban capacity upgrades and €300 million for rural capacity upgrades, to facilitate the Government's revised housing targets. I am reviewing this additional funding request from Uisce Éireann as part of the review of the National Development Plan, which is to be completed in the coming months.