The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, has commenced the Water Services Act 2022. The legislation will create a new company to be known as Uisce Eireann and this will replace Irish Water. Uisce Eireann will have a new 19-person board but retains the existing Irish Water Management team. The company is now a standalone company – the change comes into effect on January 1st. The move was a commitment in the Programme for Government to retain Irish Water in public ownership as a national, standalone, regulated utility.
The new company is owned by both the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Niall Gleeson will continue as CEO of Uisce Eireann and the new board will feature members appointed by open competition and nominations from the Government. Significantly the Irish Congress of Trade Unions is now statutorily represented on the Board of Uisce Éireann. Uisce Éireann will be accountable to the Public Accounts Committee from 1 January 2023. Water services staff, currently employees of local authorities, have until 2026 to indicate a willingness to change over to become employees of Uisce Eireann.
