Construction Industry Challenges Minister’s Assessment of NI Water Funding

An organization representing construction businesses in Northern Ireland has contested the infrastructure minister’s assertion that Northern Ireland Water’s funding framework is adequate. Mark Spence, chief executive of the Construction Employers’ Federation, declared the utility provider was “clearly not fit for purpose” and advocated for an independent investigation into its financial arrangements. Mr Spence reiterated a figure supplied by NI Water, stating that 19,000 development applications cannot proceed due to an outdated and over-capacity sewage network. The minister, John O’Dowd, stated last week that NI Water “faces challenges.” However, when questioned by BBC’s The View if the current funding model, and the way in which NI Water is established, is “fit for purpose,” he responded: “Yes.” Mr Spence countered that “the 50,000 people on the waiting list for a home in Northern Ireland dispute that.” “The factories which we have seen which should have been built in Northern Ireland that are going to the Republic of Ireland and Poland with their jobs would dispute that,” he added. “The schools who are trying to do special educational needs extensions and can’t do them because of a lack of water infrastructure would dispute that.” Seamus Leheny, from the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations, reported that 400 houses were built in Londonderry in 2022 under a pledge that a sewage connection would be provided by November 2025. “Northern Ireland Water have now said we cannot actually give you a timeline to connect those houses,” he revealed. “On top of that they quoted a price of £8m for the pumping stations to facilitate that construction, that cost has now leapt to £15m.” Mr Leheny expressed that it felt like “the goal posts are being moved.” O’Dowd has stated he “doesn’t recognise” the figures suggesting 19,000 developments are being delayed by insufficient funding for NI Water. “Even if NI Water was fully funded during its current budgetary period which brings it up to 2027, they would be able to connect 4,500 homes through their interventions,” he explained. O’Dowd noted that there was “another 18,000 properties that could be connected” if developers were prepared to contribute financially towards linking properties to water networks. Regarding different approaches to funding NI Water, the minister remarked that “all alternative models that have been brought to my attention thus far involve domestic water charges, I am not introducing [them].” Mr Spence indicated that his organization is advocating for an “independent expert-led review” into how Northern Ireland Water is funded. “Any reviews done to date have been done internally by the department, they’re marking their own homework,” he further stated. “We’re not predetermining the outcome of that, I fear the minister is predetermining the outcome of that review.” Mr Spence highlighted that the issue with developer contributions was that “this is not a small amount of money… you are talking millions of pounds.” “If you’re only building a small number of houses, how on earth do you absorb that cost?” he questioned. “You can only make that cost economically viable if you’re building a huge number of houses, or and this is problematic, if you’re building houses of such a cost that the very wealthiest are able to buy them.” Mr Spence cautioned against establishing a “two-tier water system here where only the wealthiest can afford to connect.” He asserted that this “would be excluding social housing completely from that scenario.” “I’m sure that’s not the minister’s intention,” he added. The BBC has contacted the department for a response.