Supporting housing delivery

Uisce Éireann is committed to playing its part in the national drive to provide homes to people who need them by developing and prioritising the delivery of key infrastructure.

Making progress in housing provision is a top priority for Uisce Éireann and a new dedicated team has been put in place to support the Government’s Housing for All programme. Central to this is the delivery of critical infrastructure where and when it is needed.

The team works closely with local authorities to help inform their development plan preparation process, including the tiered zoning of lands to support the delivery of housing. It has also developed the first-ever capacity registers to give an indication of whether there is enough water/ wastewater capacity in an area for development. This is critical in enabling developers and local authorities to prioritise areas with services.

“We recognise that Uisce Éireann has a key role to play in helping communities around Ireland to thrive by supporting the delivery of housing in line with the Government’s Housing for All policy. We have increased our capability to support connection applications/offers and onsite quality checks,” says Yvonne Harris, Uisce Éireann’s Housing for All Programme Director.

“This is highlighted in the figures for 2022 which show an unprecedented level of connection activity. Last year saw the delivery of water infrastructure to support almost 37,000 housing connections offered during the year – up 4,500 on the number offered in 2021.”

Positive engagement

She adds: “In addition to this, our connections team have issued positive responses to over 3,190 pre-connection enquiries associated with 116,647

Last year saw the delivery of water infrastructure to support almost 37,000 housing connections offered during the year.” housing units. Of those positive responses issued, 92% were within 16 weeks.

“We would encourage anyone considering developing housing to engage with us as early as possible through our free pre-connection enquiry process. This enables us to assess the feasibility of a connection to the Uisce Éireann network and advise on the best way to progress the project.”

Working with a wide range of stakeholders, including developers, the construction sector, business organisations such as Chambers, local authorities, government and others, Uisce Éireann has continuously refined its connections process to ensure it is fit for purpose to meet Ireland’s housing needs.

“We are proactively working to build effective partnerships to meet the housing supply challenge and are here to listen to our stakeholders and take action – for example by hosting, presenting or attending relevant conferences and events relating to housing to support our key stakeholders,” says Harris.

“We will continue to work in partnership with all those who are committed to the goal of providing homes, to ensure Uisce Éireann can deliver water infrastructure where and when it’s needed.”

Details of the many projects to support growth and development around Ireland, as well as information on the connections process, can be found on Uisce Éireann’s website, www.water.ie.