NI Water needs to borrow, Northern Ireland Assembly hears

Northern Ireland Water’s funding model is “unsustainable and unfit for purpose” and mutualisation should be considered to enable the water company to borrow to invest.

That was the message delivered to the Northern Ireland Assembly last week by the Alliance Party’s Andrew McMurray. He said Alliance did not support privatisation or new water charges, but that a plan of action is needed to “deliver desperately needed investment”.

He cited two examples in support of his case: that the “development of nearly 20,000 properties has practically ground to a halt in 23 cities, towns and villages across Northern Ireland, because the wastewater system is at capacity;” and levels of sewage discharges to rivers, lakes and seas that are “supposed to be exceptional, but they are de facto the norm now”.

He argued: “The root cause of the crisis lies in Northern Ireland Water’s funding model. It cannot borrow to invest, and it has been left with the price control for 2021-27, which is not fully funded. The impact of that on our environmental, economic, ecological and public health is intolerable. The substantial infrastructure works that are needed to address the huge problems that we see now are difficult to plan and fund in those conditions. Unfortunately, the result is not just a standstill but deterioration.”

McMurray said he would work with those keen to develop solutions.