Ó Broin: Government should 'come clean' on Uisce Éireann funding 

Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin said the Government must "come clean" on the money which had been diverted to the utility from the sale of AIB shares and whether it affected the capital spending at Uisce Éireann. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA

The Government has been accused of being "caught out" on the funding of housing, with the opposition claiming that €1bn announced for Uisce Éireann in last year's budget did not represent new money.

Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin said the Government must "come clean" on the money which had been diverted to the utility from the sale of AIB shares and whether it affected the capital spending at Uisce Éireann.

Mr Ó Broin said a letter published in The Irish Times which was sent to then-housing minister Darragh O'Brien by Uisce Éireann chair Jerry Grant after the budget shows the money was "not new funding" but rather an alternative financing mechanism to cover existing commitments.

A Government spokesperson said the €1bn was additional funding for Uisce Éireann's capital plans up to 2029, but that the utility had "funding pressures" and that Uisce Éireann would "need more". The spokesperson said the water utility will require €1.7bn in the coming years to meet new housing targets.

"The facts are that there was €1bn extra in the Budget."

Asked about the funding, Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers said he had identified on budget day "the need to do an awful lot more when it comes to investment in water infrastructure, in our economy, in energy, in transport".

The €1bn equity investment in Uisce Éireann was in addition to the voted funding provided in Budget 2025 as part of the overall funding mix for capital investment.

"I also set out on budget day the need to strategically invest in important areas and growth enabling infrastructure for our economy, which I have repeated many times since — water, energy, housing and transport infrastructure, for example.

"So we met with Irish Water about some of the constraints and barriers to overall infrastructure delivery in our economy, but also as part of the new National Development Plan review, which we will be outlining in July. Irish Water will see a significant uplift in its capital allocations over a multiannual basis."

Meanwhile at Cabinet, Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan secured Government approval for the drafting of legislation that will change a number of policing rules that will empower gardaí to require a person to remove a face covering where they "reasonably expect that it is being worn in order to intimidate or conceal a person’s identity when intending to commit a crime". 

Mr O'Callaghan also indicated that he will also further restrict the disclosure of counselling records from complainants during sexual assault trials.

In a statement, he said: "Complainants have expressed how they have felt compelled to waive the disclosure hearing because they don’t want to risk a successful prosecution or delay a trial. Therefore their records are routinely being released.

"I am fully aware of the distress and re-victimisation that disclosure of counselling records can have on complainants in sexual assault trials."

Cabinet was also told there has been a 28% reduction in the suicide rate over a 21 year period.

Chief Whip Mary Butler told ministers the preliminary figure for suicides in 2023 is 302, the lowest in 20 years. Between 2000 and 2021, the suicide rate fell from 12.9 per 100,000 to 9.2 per 100,000.