Debate contribution: NI Water Challenges

Debate contribution by Mr Cathal Boylan on 8 April 2024.

MLA

Mr Cathal Boylan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

8 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

NI Water Challenges

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4481622

Read the official Assembly record

Text

A decade of Tory austerity and cuts have devastated our public services. As a result of historical underfunding, our water and waste infrastructure has been severely impacted, due to which areas across the North face development challenges. We need and deserve a high standard of water quality and waste water infrastructure to ensure that we provide a proper service, to protect our watercourses from pollution and to safeguard our environment. NI Water has long warned of the effect of the lack of funding that it has had in the North. That is just another symptom of Tory budgets not allowing vital public services to be properly resourced. We need long-term sustainable investment in the North's sewerage and waste water network so that we can properly deliver fit-for-purpose infrastructure. The public are already struggling during the cost-of-living crisis as we speak. The last thing that households need is additional bills. Sinn Féin remains resolute in its opposition to domestic water charges and privatisation. We are focused on getting our public services the resources that they need without adding a further burden on workers and families. It is clear that our waste water and sewerage infrastructure faces huge challenges, but it must be stressed that privatisation and water charges are not the solution. NI Water is a vast and important piece of infrastructure that needs to be properly resourced. For reference of scale, there are more than 1,000 waste water treatment facilities, 24 water treatment works, 27,000 kilometres of water pipes and over 16,000 kilometres of sewer pipes. On top of that, NI Water is the largest electricity consumer in the North. Despite the budgetary pressures, it continues to provide a high-quality service, and that should be noted. In February, NI Water representatives attended the Infrastructure Committee, at which they detailed the significant challenges that they face. They also detailed the positive work that they have been carrying out, such as coming in over target for water quality and making efficiency savings. NI Water has also developed a climate change strategy, recognising the need to play its part as the North's largest electricity consumer. At that presentation, NIW representatives also indicated that the present PC21 delivery programme faces serious challenges, citing increasing energy prices and construction costs. Our water and sewerage services need sustainable investment in order to provide quality drinking water, to ensure that environmental protections are in place, to help build housing and to facilitate economic development. I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate and welcome and look forward to other contributions.

424 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:58 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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