Northern Ireland Water has blamed “chronic underfunding” for environmental damages, which it warned could hamper the country’s economic growth.
The publicly-funded water company has repeatedly called for greater investment and is now in a “critical state” according to its 2019/20 annual report.
The report shows the wastewater infrastructure is failing and unable to manage additional connections from houses and businesses in more than 100 cities and towns.
This, chief executive Sara Venning said, is restricting the building of schools, homes, office buildings and factories.
Venning said: “Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK where the water utility is not funded to the levels required by its independent regulator. The impacts of under-funding are not something we can allocate to future discussions, they are happening now and are undermining our resilience to the challenges brought by the climate emergency and a growing population. The scale of the problem currently facing NI Water requires major, inescapable investment.”
She added that NI Water has delivered “private sector levels of performance and efficiency” over the year but it is not sustainable. The company requires more than £2 billion to deliver its business plan for 2021-27 including a £500 million drainage scheme for Belfast.
Venning said the case problem of underfunding must be addressed by more than one governmental department because the effects of the situation impact health, economic and environmental departments.
Northern Ireland has committed to subsidise domestic water and sewerage services until 2022 but NI Water said continued shortages in public expenditure funding have restricted economic growth.
Venning said the under-investment is also leading to inadequate environmental protection at a time when the company could be supporting a greener economy.
“It’s time to provide the investment that is needed,” she said. “We have the opportunity to play a key role in supporting the wider societal shift to a decarbonised economy and to do that we need investment.”