Debate contribution: Water, Sustainable Drainage and Flood Management Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Cathal Boylan on 16 September 2025.

MLA: Mr Cathal Boylan
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 16 September 2025
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Executive Committee Business
Heading: Water, Sustainable Drainage and Flood Management Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5111345

Text

I welcome the new Chairperson to the Committee. I look forward to working with him. I also welcome Mr McNulty — he is not here — to the Committee. I extend my best wishes to Deborah and her family. Hopefully, she is watching, so I will give her a wee thumbs up.
I welcome the opportunity to speak at the Second Stage of the Water, Sustainable Drainage and Flood Management Bill. I begin by thanking the Minister for bringing this important legislation to the Assembly. It is an important aspect of the Minister's three-pronged approach to address the issues around waste water infrastructure and how we live with water in the future. I know that the Minister is committed to doing everything that she can to find and implement solutions. Addressing the challenge in waste water infrastructure is much more than an issue for the Infrastructure Minister; it is an issue that affects every aspect of public services from building new homes to hospitals to schools. The Bill aims to go some way towards making progress. I am acutely aware of the pressures that face our waste water infrastructure and, by extension, NIW. I know that the Minister's intention for the Bill is, in part, to improve processes for NIW and allow for new ways to mitigate flood risk while supporting those who are impacted or potentially impacted by flooding occurrences. Collecting and storing rainwater in new and innovative ways by integrating natural drainage systems into our waste water infrastructure as the preferred drainage solution in new developments will enable water to be stored and released gradually into the network. That has the potential to help to address waste water overflows. Moreover, using more natural and sustainable drainage methods as a tool for living with water will ensure that we do not always use a concrete solution and instead integrate ponds and other drainage into new developments. Other issues are covered in the Bill, such as the extension of the hosepipe ban. It is clear that those measures are to be used only in limited and prescribed situations. The Bill is another example of how the Minister is keen to meet the needs of a growing population and a stretched waste water network alongside an ever-changing weather pattern as a result of climate change. I also welcome the provisions that enable the Department to provide grants for measures to protect domestic buildings from flooding. We must do all that we can to protect residents from the worst impacts of flooding. Where that requires us to invest in flood protection measures alongside improved drainage and other such measures, we must do so. In reality, we need to learn to live with extreme weather events, including drought and flooding alike. The Bill would assist in that. I look forward to further scrutinising the "SuDS and floods" Bill further in Committee and working with all members, officials and the Minister to make sure that we make progress on this important issue.

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

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