Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
930. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline the loans which Uisce Éireann has taken out since its launch as Irish Water; the interest rate of those loans; and to outline the loans still outstanding. [38678/23]
View answerIn March 2019, the Government approved recommendations made by the inter-Departmental Working Group on how to replace Uisce Éireann’s existing commercial debt facilities with State funding and provide State borrowing facilities for Uisce Éireann’s future non-domestic sector capital expenditure and working capital requirements.
Implementation of the Government Decision took place in 3 phases:
• Phase 1: In December 2019, the Minister for Finance provided a capital contribution of €758m for Uisce Éireann to repay its commercial borrowings related to the domestic sector
• Phase 2: In June 2020, the Minister for Finance provided a term loan facility of €1.022 billion to allow Uisce Éireann to:
• access €238m to repay existing non-domestic commercial borrowings
• access €133.6m non-domestic borrowings for 2020; and
• access €650m future non-domestic borrowings for the period 2021-2024.
Uisce Éireann is restricted to using these funds to support historical and future capital investment notionally relating to the non-domestic sector. The terms of the Phase 2 Agreement provide for an interest rate margin of 0.5% per annum above the cost of funds to the State.
• Phase 3: The NTMA provided a €350 million credit facility to Uisce Éireann’s to fund short-term working capital funding requirements. The facility is not intended as funding for long-term capital investment with the loan balance cleared at year end.
Uisce Éireann no longer has any commercial borrowings other than a €10m bank overdraft.
Uisce Éireann Debt Draw Down by Year
|
2020 €m |
2021 €m |
2022 €m |
2023 YTD €m |
Total €m |
|
|
Uisce Éireann State Debt |
372 |
130 |
112 |
67 |
681 |
The Minister for Finance loan facility covers the period to the end of 2024. The 2023 Budget provided Uisce Éireann with the option to borrow up to €201m of which €67m has been borrow year-to-date (YTD). Borrowings for 2024 will be determined through the 2024 Exchequer estimates process.
