Uisce Éireann Annual Report 2020 publication
13 September 2021
Uisce Éireann has published its annual report for 2020 showing an investment of €846m in critical capital infrastructure projects during the year. This investment, together with the ongoing delivery of additional operational efficiencies, resulted in Uisce Éireann continuing to improve water and wastewater services to businesses and communities across the country.
Uisce Éireann’s end of year figures report Revenue of €1,061m and a Surplus Before Tax of €121m in 2020. All surplus cash-flows continue to be utilised to meet ongoing capital expenditure requirements. Uisce Éireann’s investment of €846m in critical capital infrastructure projects during the year facilitated the upgrade and build of water and wastewater treatment plants, new and upgraded wastewater and water networks and delivery of major projects and milestones at Cork Lower Harbour and Ringsend.
Investment last year by Uisce Éireann saw the removal of 11 water supplies from the EPA Remedial Action List and the building or upgrading of five water treatment plants and seven wastewater treatment plants. We laid or rehabilitated 178km of water main and 42km of sewer network; removed long term ‘Boil Water Notices’ for 14,568 people; replaced 3,025 lead services and fixed leaks resulting in net water savings of 51 mega litres of water per day.
Uisce Éireann also continued to drive efficiencies in service delivery, with the Government and Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage providing an extra €87m allocation of funding from the Stimulus Package enabling Uisce Éireann to efficiently target leakage reduction works and capital maintenance upgrades.
Despite the progress, Ireland still has significant non-compliance with European water and wastewater directives and challenges remain. The building, repair and upgrading of Uisce Éireann’s water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, water and sewer networks will require a multi-billion euro investment programme over many years.
From the outset of COVID-19 in early 2020, Uisce Éireann recognised the potential impact of the pandemic on its employees, customers and wider community. Uisce Éireann implemented its business crisis management plans and rolled out a continuity response plan across its business units that saw all staff move to remote working and allowed for a continuation of critical water and wastewater services with no interruptions to normal services.
Commenting on the results, Uisce Éireann’s Managing Director Niall Gleeson, said: "Despite the operational challenges brought about by COVID-19, 2020 was an exceptional year of performance and achievement by all staff in Uisce Éireann and our service partners in the Local Authorities. Looking forward to the remainder of 2021 Uisce Éireann will continue to prioritise the need to support housing and development in line with our obligations to protect the environment. We are making real and tangible progress working with local communities to deliver critical infrastructure which has suffered from years of historic underinvestment.
Separation of Uisce Éireann from Ervia Group
In 2018 the Government announced the separation of Uisce Éireann from the Ervia Group. In 2019 and 2020 Uisce Éireann worked with Ervia and an Inter Departmental Steering Group to progress the plans for the separation of Uisce Éireann as a standalone, publicly owned, regulated utility. Operational separation will be achieved in 2022.
Full legal separation of Uisce Éireann from Ervia will be complete in 2023.