The Government’s aim to build 50,000 homes per year is simply not achievable if our water and wastewater infrastructure continues to lag so far behind where we need it to be. Leading the charge to convince the State to act – now – is the CIF.

To say that Paul Sheridan, Director of Main Contracting Services for the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), is concerned about current shortcomings in the provision of water and wastewater infrastructure in Ireland would probably be an understatement. As General Secretary of the CIF’s Water Services Operators Group (WSOG), a subcommittee of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, Sheridan is better placed than most to gauge the status quo, and he says there is a massive gap that urgently needs to be filled if the Government is to have any hope of hitting its targets of building 50,000 homes per annum in the coming years. “Right now there is simply not enough infrastructure to sustain this,” says Sheridan. In fact, according to Uisce Éireann estimates from late last year, the prevailing situation can only support the construction of up to about 32,000 new homes – a far cry from the official target.

The problem, as Sheridan explains, is not that our construction sector lacks the wherewithal to build the necessary infrastructure; it is rather the fact that there is a very sizeable funding shortfall on the part of Uisce Éireann. Not only has our State-owned water utility company not had access to any new capital in recent years, he says, but things are actually moving in the opposite direction. “We’re seeing Uisce Éireann ramping down capital expenditure so far this year, on the back of a drop-off in 2024,” he says.

This is having knock-on effects on proposed housing developments around the country. For example, the €40m Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) upgrade at Newmarket on Fergus in Co Clare has been delayed, affecting about 5,000 homes, as has the Mountbellew and Ballygar WWTP in Co Galway, which has in turn stalled up to 1,800 homes.

Meanwhile, various water-related programmes have been suspended or had their funding slashed; these include the Regional Water programme, the Aeration Treatment Monitoring programme, and the Network Leak Detection programme.

With all of this work either cut back or postponed, many CIF members are either laying off staff qualified and skilled in working on water projects – or reallocating them to other projects in the UK. One CIF member has laid off as many as 100 employees. “These are people with very specific skills in relation to water,” says Sheridan. Another member has seen 70% of this type of employee diverted to jobs in the UK.

In terms of estimated income for CIF members from Uisce Éireann for this year, the picture is stark, with some predicting drops of anything from €5m to €30m.

“The evidence is there, and it is all pretty dark considering what we’re trying to achieve around housebuilding,” says Sheridan. “We need to find a way.” That’s because the adequate provision of water and wastewater treatment is nothing short of “critical”, not just for housing, but in order for Ireland to retain and attract foreign direct investment and, last but not least, meet our sustainable climate action obligations.

Although, as Sheridan notes, both Uisce Éireann and the industry have been gearing up to do the work that is needed, the fact that the funds are not there has stymied these efforts. “Construction companies have invested in plant and equipment, but these are businesses that need to keep employing people, so they have to go to clients where there is more certainty.” Unfortunately, contractors are currently not seeing anything like the same degree of certainty on the public side of things.

As a result, says Sheridan, we find ourselves in a position whereby it is “physically impossible” to produce the housing we need. “We are running out of zoned, serviced land, and continually seeing developments being refused – even where there are transport lines etc in place,” he says.

As to how much is needed to bridge the gap, based on what its members are telling it the CIF estimates that a ringfenced fund of €500m per annum in new capital will be needed. This ties in with figures emanating from Uisce Éireann, which reckons that it will need at least €1.7bn in new infrastructure funding over the next three to five years.

It is now imperative, says Sheridan, that the Government provides the necessary ringfenced funds of €500m per annum to fund the design and construction of capital projects. The CIF is clear that the funding would need to be entirely separate from Uisce Éireann’s general operational budget. Sheridan is emphatic about this. For example, it must not encompass initiatives such as the Greater Dublin Drainage and Water Supply projects from the Shannon which should, says Sheridan, be financed separately, perhaps via a public-private partnership process for example.

Meanwhile, the process for procuring these projects must be streamlined by reducing the number of decision gates and external reviews. Above all, he adds, the funding cannot “under any circumstances” be used for land acquisition, Uisce Éireann’s own staff or buildings, paying down loans or any other form of spending that doesn’t involve infrastructural advancement.

The CIF is also calling for a “national heat map” to be developed to help target the funding in the most optimal way. This would show the overlap between land that is serviced with the necessary water/wastewater infrastructure and land that is not, as well as land that is zoned and/or has planning permission for residential development.

In terms of finding the necessary monies, Sheridan suggests a pause in the taking in charge of water and wastewater assets under the Uisce Éireann transition programme for a period of five years. “Continue to allow the private sector to operate 25-30% of all existing critical water and wastewater infrastructure under the Design Build and Operate (DBO) models, and reallocate these funds to putting pipes in the ground,” he suggests, adding that there could be an additional benefit to this pause. “Many WSOG members are operating plants under the Design Build and Operate that have capacity constraints, and this is impacting on housing delivery across the country. Most of the DBO contracts under which these plants operate have provisions that allow the operator to bring forward upgrades/improvements, which can be relatively quickly executed if no planning is required.” WSOG members, he adds, have the necessary design skills in-house to identify solutions, as well as the capacity to quickly deliver these upgrades.

As players across the industry and beyond continue to lobby for a resolution to the current impasse around water/wastewater infrastructure, it is worth noting that, even if the funds were to be made available tomorrow to pay for the ramping up of provision, the fact that so many skilled workers have been either let go or assigned to UK projects means it could be at least Q3 of this year before we would see any tangible change, says Sheridan.

Follow Irish building magazine on LinkedIn for the latest news and updates.