{"id":471789,"date":"2026-05-28T19:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/471789\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T19:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:29:09","slug":"businesses-face-rise-in-water-charges-as-regulators-green-light-near-e14bn-investment-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/471789\/","title":{"rendered":"Businesses face rise in water charges as regulators green-light near \u20ac14bn investment \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Businesses face a likely rise in water charges after regulators gave State utility \u00daisce \u00c9ireann<\/a> the green light to spend almost \u20ac14 billion by 2029 on infrastructure needed to aid home building and meet growing demand.<\/p>\n

A lack of services such as water supply and waste treatment are among several barriers delaying the construction of new homes in the Republic.<\/p>\n

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities<\/a> (CRU) said on Thursday that it has approved a \u201crecord \u20ac13.6 billion investment\u201d by \u00daisce \u00c9ireann in critical infrastructure throughout the Republic by 2029.<\/p>\n

Figures published by the commission indicate that businesses\u2019 share of this could approach \u20ac2.4 billion.<\/p>\n

The CRU confirmed that \u201cbusiness customers are expected to see increases in charges\u201d in the period up to 2029.<\/p>\n

A separate process determines those charges and the CRU is due to publish its decision on this in July.<\/p>\n

Rates vary according to what customers consume and any waste water they produce. Big industrial customers pay a greater share of the overall cost.<\/p>\n

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The exchequer foots the bill for household water services, which will be in the region of \u20ac7.3 billion up to 2029.<\/p>\n

Many businesses will pass on water rate rises to customers, Finbarr Filan, chairman of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises<\/a> association warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny of these extra costs that come in our door get passed on to the consumer,\u201d said Filan, who runs a Centra shop in Sligo.<\/p>\n

He argued that the consequence of the government U-turn on introducing domestic water charges following protests more than a decade ago was that consumers ended up paying anyway<\/p>\n

At the same time, the failure to introduce those charges delayed the construction of vital infrastructure, he pointed out.<\/p>\n

Aidan Sweeney, head of infrastructure policy at business group Ibec<\/a>, said the Government should absorb \u201cnon-domestic\u201d water charges between now and 2029 and increase the capital allocated to Uisce \u00c9ireann.<\/p>\n

Upgrading water infrastructure is of paramount importance, Sweeney acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the costs of this investment disproportionately falls on to the business community through increased water charges, particularly within the context of other anticipated costs such as energy,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s spending will cover 163 new and upgraded water treatment plants, increasing capacity by 43 million extra litres a day, 61 new waste treatment facilities, 126km of new pipes and 113km of new sewers, as well as other projects.<\/p>\n

CRU chairman Fergal Mulligan said the decision was a major step forward in securing key infrastructure needed to support new homes and economic growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the period up to 2029, it can deliver a real step change in water and wastewater services, while helping to address long-standing infrastructure needs across the country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The ruling will require Uisce \u00c9ireann to meet \u201ccore delivery obligations, keep priority projects on track and demonstrate measurable progress against targets\u201d, Mulligan stressed.<\/p>\n

Separately Uisce \u00c9ireann will seek funding later this year through the National Development Plan, under specific measures to speed up house building, the company said.<\/p>\n

Welcoming the CRU\u2019s decision, \u00daisce \u00c9ireann director of asset management Sean Laffey predicted that the investment the regulator has approved would result in hundreds of projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cCritically, it will support housing delivery by enabling new connections and addressing infrastructure constraints in key growth areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities across the country will see further evidence of projects being advanced as we work to increase capacity, improve reliability and meet our environmental obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justin Johnston, director of strategy, resilience and regulation, pledged that the company would spend the money \u201cresponsibly and efficiently\u201d.<\/p>\n

The State company has set out a comprehensive programme of projects giving clear visibility of planned work across the Republic\u2019s 26 counties, Uisce \u00c9ireann said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Businesses face a likely rise in water charges after regulators gave State utility \u00daisce \u00c9ireann the green light…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,55871,4105,61,60,4104,776],"class_list":["post-471789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-commission-for-regulation-of-utilities-cru","tag-ibec","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-isme","tag-uisce-eireann"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}