{"id":540756,"date":"2026-07-09T09:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T09:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/540756\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T09:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T09:33:11","slug":"uisce-eireann-hit-with-e31m-penalty-over-leaks-and-bad-debts-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/540756\/","title":{"rendered":"Uisce \u00c9ireann hit with \u20ac31m penalty over leaks and bad debts \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The regulator for utilities has imposed a \u20ac31 million penalty on Uisce \u00c9ireann<\/a> for failing to meet performance targets.<\/p>\n

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU)<\/a> said on Wednesday the issues related to dealing with leaks and bad debts in the period between 2020 and 2024. It said the decision was final.<\/p>\n

The CRU said the \u20ac31 million figure in Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s 2025 financial statements, which were given to the Oireachtas several days ago, reflected a reduction it had made after reviewing the utility\u2019s performance under a regulatory framework.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CRU established a number of performance targets and associated financial incentive mechanisms. Where specified targets were not achieved, the framework provides for a reduction in Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s allowed revenues. This means that Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s allowed revenues can be reduced if it fails to meet specified performance targets,\u201d the regulator said.<\/p>\n

In the D\u00e1il on Wednesday, Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly<\/a> said at a time when the utilities regulator had imposed a \u20ac31 million fine on Uisce \u00c9ireann for underperformance, the water company had paid out \u20ac18 million in bonuses to its own personnel.<\/p>\n

He asked Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a>, \u201cHow can I explain to people in Kildare who are often without water that on the one hand the utility has had a \u20ac31 million fine imposed but at the same time has chosen to pay out 94 per cent of staff their full performance bonus to the tune of \u20ac18 million?\u201d <\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said in some areas Uisce \u00c9ireann was performing. However, he said in addition to leakages, the Environmental Protection Agency had also raised some criticism about the operation of wastewater plants.<\/p>\n

Martin said overall Uisce \u00c9ireann was investing a lot and getting a lot done around water infrastructure. The Taoiseach suggested that those getting bonuses could be performing well in achieving objectives set within the company.<\/p>\n

The CRU told The Irish Times that following a review of performance it had determined that a \u20ac20 million \u201cdownside adjustment\u201d should be applied in relation to leakages. It said Uisce \u00c9ireann achieved a 59 megalitres per day leakage reduction against the target set in the regulatory framework of 177.5 megalitres per day.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Uisce \u00c9ireann prosecuted by environment watchdog on \u201835 occasions\u2019 over wastewater dischargeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cAn \u20ac11 million downside adjustment was applied in accordance with the regulatory framework, due to Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s performance against bad debt targets at less than 5 per cent of billed non-domestic revenue. Uisce \u00c9ireann is incentivised to actively manage non-domestic bad debt,\u201d the CRU said. <\/p>\n

Uisce \u00c9ireann said it operated within the revenue control framework established by the CRU. It said the framework included a number of incentive mechanisms, some of which could result in positive or negative adjustments to future allowed revenues depending on performance against agreed regulatory targets. <\/p>\n

\u201cUisce \u00c9ireann remains committed to reducing leakage across Ireland\u2019s water network. Leakage levels are now at their lowest ever recorded, with national leakage reducing from 49 per cent in 2014 to 35.1 per cent in 2025 and leakage in Dublin reducing from 37 per cent to 29.5 per cent over the same period. This is significant progress given the scale of our water network which, at 65,000km, is the largest per head of population in Europe,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The regulator for utilities has imposed a \u20ac31 million penalty on Uisce \u00c9ireann for failing to meet performance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15420,72,55871,11654,61,60,1843,1419,776],"class_list":["post-540756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-aidan-farrelly","tag-business","tag-commission-for-regulation-of-utilities-cru","tag-environmental-protection-agency-epa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-micheal-martin","tag-social-democrats","tag-uisce-eireann"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540756","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=540756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}