Watchdog urges review of Northern Ireland Water funding model
Northern Ireland’s public expenditure watchdog has urged the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) and Northern Ireland Water to review alternative arrangements for funding the publicly-owned water company after publishing a report confirming that development across the region is being held back by a lack of key infrastructure.
This call for a review led by “suitably qualified experts” came from Auditor General, Dorinnia Carville, who complained the current funding model created “uncertainty and constraints around securing and using resources”.
Historic underinvestment in the region’s wastewater and supply infrastructure has left the water company playing catch-up to meet requirements.
The lack of water infrastructure has meant that development applications in 100 areas, including 25 cities and towns, cannot be approved or are being subject to restrictions, noted the Northern Ireland Audit Office.
Carville said the report “highlights the challenges that decision-makers have faced in securing the finance and investment needed to meet water infrastructure requirements in the coming decades.
“A very real consequence of this underinvestment is that there are many areas in Northern Ireland where new development, including the construction of homes and other buildings, is restricted due to insufficient capacity to connect to sewage and wastewater services” she insisted.
The report noted that underinvestment “has been a long-term problem” which predated the establishment of Northern Ireland Water in 2007.
Although investment levels for the past two years had met Northern Ireland Water’s needs under the latest price control, funding agreed for 2023/4 was £93m lower than required and a further shortfall was anticipated into 2024/5.
A DfI spokesperson said the department noted the review of the challenges facing NI Water. “We will now take time to consider the report’s findings in full.”
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