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•  Funding will support works on group water schemes, group sewerage schemes and grants for private wells and septic tanks under the Multi-annual Rural Water Programme

•   Funding in 2019 will rise to €25 million

Eoghan Murphy, the Minister for the Housing, Planning and Local Government, today (21 September 2018) announced grant supports totalling €20 million for 2018 for water services in rural areas. The funding will enable development and improvement work to be undertaken on group water schemes and group sewerage schemes in rural areas, and will provide grants for households to upgrade private wells and septic tanks. The funding is being provided by the Minister to local authorities under the ‘Multi-annual Rural Water Programme’, which supports capital infrastructure works on water services in rural areas.

Announcing the funding, Minister Murphy said:

High quality sustainable water services are a fundamental necessity to our lives and do not distinguish between rural or urban areas.  This is why the Government continues to prioritise funding for the group water sector in parallel with the overall funding for water services generally. Throughout the length and breadth of rural Ireland infrastructural investment in water services is needed and is being provided by this Government.

The funding is aimed at the improvement of water quality in existing group water schemes and the upgrading and water conservation works in group water scheme distribution networks.  It will support new schemes to enable rural households to have a supply of good quality piped water for the first time. Funding is also being provided towards group sewerage schemes.  The Rural Water Programme is made up of six different measures and funding being announced today is broken down across a series of initiatives.

•               €4.33 million is being committed under ‘Measure 1’ for water treatment improvements for the group water sector.  These improvements are associated with environmental and public health compliance.
•               Under ‘Measure 2’ dealing with the enhancement of group water schemes, €5.6 million is being allocated.  This funding is provided to local authorities in the form of a block grant.
•               Under ‘Measure 3’ which is focused on rural development, €892,000 is being committed.
•               To support the transition of group water schemes to the public water and waste water sector under ‘Measure 4’, €1.57 million is allocated.
•               ‘Measure 5’ funds innovation and research projects with an allocation of €14,000.
•               Under ‘Measure 6’, €3.5m is being committed to funding grants for private wells and septic tanks.
•               Administration costs will amount to €550,000.
•               €3.544 million has been earmarked as a reserve to fund projects in 2018 that were approved under the Programme, and that have not yet been initiated, to facilitate their future progression.

A table setting out a breakdown of these allocations by county is attached.

With €20 million being committed this year for the Rural Water Programme, Minister Murphy also welcomed increases in funding which will be in place from 2019 under the National Development Plan.

Capital funding for the Rural Water Programme is now set to rise by €5 million to €25 million per annum in 2019.  This enhanced level of investment will be maintained up to 2021.   Including funding being provided this year, a total of €95 million has been secured for the period 2018 to 2021.  This significant increase in funding for the Programme demonstrates the Government’s commitment to this valuable resource, but also reflects the need for additional investment in the rural water sector in order to sustain and improve the quality and availability of rural water services,

Minister Murphy said.

The day-to-day administration of the Rural Water Programme is the responsibility of local authorities which work in partnership with Group Water Schemes.  The Minister acknowledged the importance of these partnership arrangements, saying, “the delivery of rural water services involves a unique partnership that meets a critical need for the people of rural Ireland. I want to recognise the vital role played by local government in the delivery of rural water services. I want to also to recognise the National Federation for Group Water Schemes, the representative organisation for the group waters sector, for the leadership role that they provided to that sector, and to recognise the work by individual members of group water schemes in serving their communities”.

Review of investment needs for Rural Water

The current Multi-annual Rural Water Programme commenced in 2016 and is due to conclude this year, in 2018.  A new programme will be put in place for the period 2019 to 2021.  Earlier this year, in April 2018, Minister Murphy established a Working Group to conduct a review of the wider investment needs relating to rural water services. The review is focusing on the actions required to improve and sustain rural water services.  It is considering issues such as governance, supervision and monitoring of the sector, in addition to capital investment priorities and requirements across all elements of rural water services, including domestic wastewater treatment systems.

The establishment of the Working Group was undertaken in response to the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services in 2017.  The terms of reference of the review provide for a two-strand approach.  The first Strand of the review is considering the composition and distribution of funding for the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme from 2019 up to 2021.  As part of this work, the Minister has committed to making improvements to the grants available to improve private wells and septic tanks.  The second strand of the review will consider the more complex longer-focus issues surrounding the long-term future resourcing of the Rural Water Sector.

The Working Group will first produce a summary report on Strand 1 of its deliberations.  This is expected to be submitted to the Minister within the coming month, in October 2018.  It will outline the rationale for funding priorities for the next cycle of the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme.  Work will then continue in examining the long term investment needs for rural water services and is expected to report in 2019.  The outcomes and reports of the Working Group will inform future policy and investment decisions by the Minister and Government on rural water services.

The organisations that are participating on the Working Group reflect the importance and wide ranging impact of the Rural Water Sector. In addition to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Working Group comprises: the Department of Rural and Community Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Health Service Executive, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes and the County and City Management Association.  To date it has met four times.

Attached separately as Appendix 1 are details of allocations made in relation to individual schemes in each county. 

The summary breakdown of allocations for each local authority under each measure that makes up the Programme is attached separately as Appendix 2.