Water Services Policy Statement 2018-2025

The purpose of the Policy Statement is to clarify - for Uisce Éireann and for others – the government’s expectations for the delivery and development of water and wastewater services in the years ahead. It will also inform decisions on rural water services. This is the first Policy Statement prepared under the Water Services Act 2017.

The Statement outlines four principles to guide the delivery of water services:

• one single, publicly-owned, national water services authority
• fair and efficient delivery with a customer focus
• priority health and environmental quality outcomes across the sector
• ways of working to support partnership and excellent stakeholder engagement

It also sets out a series of high-level objectives across three themes:

• quality
• conservation
• future proofing

These objectives must be pursued when Uisce Éireann produces plans for infrastructural investment or day-to-day expenditure on water services.

By 21 August 2018, Uisce Éireann must prepare a Strategic Funding Plan, which will set out its proposed operational and capital expenditure for the period up to 2025. Once approved by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Strategic Funding Plan will assist in deciding the annual level of Exchequer funding required for the provision by Uisce Éireann of water and wastewater services to its domestic customers.

In preparing this Statement, the department published online an Information Paper for Public Consultation. It was also issued to statutory and non-statutory bodies within the water sector and to all government departments. Written submissions from 15 respondents informed the Policy Statement.