2026-07-14

I call on the Minister for housing and local government to intervene in a most urgent matter in County Kerry where subcontractors to Uisce Éireann are being left to wait for two, three or four months without being paid for work that has been carried out. This is not acceptable. These delayed payments mean subcontractors are unable to pay wages or for diesel due to cash flow problems. This is happening right across my county in Tralee, Dingle, Killarney, east Kerry, Killorglin and Kenmare. In every corner of Kerry, this is happening as we speak. It is disgraceful carry-on by Uisce Éireann. It is not acceptable. Will the Minister of State request the Minister for housing to intervene to ensure contractors are paid within a reasonable timeframe especially after submitting their invoices? They should be paid within two weeks at the most. This is inexcusable. It must be addressed immediately. Contractors and subcontractors to Uisce Éireann are experiencing unacceptable delays. There are huge issues with issuing purchase orders, POs - orders are issued weekly and often contractors wait two months to get PO. Another big issue is when invoices are submitted to payables, it seems it is a central invoicing email address dealing with this and they are not uploaded to the system for processing, causing further delays. These are all internal Uisce Éireann issues. When invoices are not processed, the spin-off effect is delayed payment. Local engineers have informed me that this is all removed from them, it is centralised and they have no contact details for anyone to help as payments are not received. On contacting payables by email, contractors are told invoices were not processed or picked up from the previous Monday and there is no payment on the Friday. Furthermore, there is no payment run at the end of the month, which means contractors are waiting another couple of weeks which has been the case. I am aware of one contractor who was informed today that he will eventually be paid on 17 July for works carried out last March. This is not good enough and has to be addressed. These people cannot continue in business this way. I plead with the Minister of State to ask the Minister for housing and local government to simplify the whole process. What is happening needs to be addressed. It is bordering on criminal. Will the Minister of State please request that Uisce Éireann addresses this incompetence in its payment systems and work with contractors to address these issues? Payments were always slow but have gotten so delayed that subcontractors are unable to pay wages or pay for fuel, etc., due to cash flow problems caused solely by Uisce Éireann. In regard to these delayed payments, there is a way of addressing the issue. It is in everyone's interests to address this matter as soon as possible.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing.Local Government and Heritage. The operation of the public wastewater treatment systems together with operational issues locally are matters for Uisce Éireann which has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. Contracts and payments are matters for Uisce Éireann and I have no function. However, the Minister has made inquiries with Uisce Éireann on the Deputy’s behalf and has been informed that Uisce Éireann has contracts in place with its contractors for all works and services provided. These contracts set out the applicable payment terms and processes to be followed. Where a contractor raises a concern regarding payment, Uisce Éireann will engage directly with the contractor to understand the circumstances and to address the matter in accordance with the relevant contractual arrangements. Responsibility for the payment of subcontractors rests with the principal contractor in line with the terms and conditions of the relevant contract. Where there are delays with some payments, there can be a number of reasons. Where such matters arise, Uisce Éireann endeavours to resolve them as quickly as possible once identified. Uisce Éireann is aware of isolated challenges in the timeliness of purchase requisitions and purchase order receipting. These issues have been escalated and are being dealt with as a priority. It should also be noted that the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, was assigned water regulatory functions under section 27 of the Water Services Act 2013. In performing its functions under the Act, CRU has regard to the need to ensure that customers of Uisce Éireann are provided with the quality of service provided for in its code of practice, water services are provided by Uisce Éireann in an economical and efficient manner, Uisce Éireann operates in a commercially viable manner, Uisce Éireann can meet all reasonable demands for water both current and foreseeable; Uisce Éireann performs its functions in a manner that will enable the achievement by the State of the environmental objectives of the EU directive, and that Uisce Éireann performs its functions in an open and transparent manner. The matters the Deputy raised have been brought to the Minister. He has followed up with inquiries to Uisce Éireann. I have no doubt the Deputy will elaborate on the point he raised in his supplementary contribution.

With delayed payments, interest should be applied to overdue accounts paid to contractors similar to local authorities, utilities and other bodies that have this payment system. Why not Uisce Éireann? Why should it be allowed to get off scot-free especially with the manner in which it is blackguarding contractors and subcontractors? It does not pay to provide a 24-7 call-out service without payment. That is an obvious fact. A simple solution would be to put contractors on a monthly drawdown system. That would cut out red tape and delays. I will throw a spanner in the works. A few months ago, a friend of mine approached me about a quote they received for a 60 m extension to a water main to a single house. They were quoted €450 per metre. That comes to €27,000. Think of a 100 m sprint by Usain Bolt and then 60 m of that 100 m. People are flabbergasted by these quotations. People are expected to pay that while contractors are not being paid by Irish Water. They are waiting four months. Uisce Éireann is well able to charge people, but when it comes to payments it is a totally different story. Contractors and subcontractors are being put through hell and put under enormous financial pressure. This must be addressed and the sooner the better. I will raise this again and I will put down a vote of no confidence in Uisce Éireann if there is no progress on this matter.

As I said earlier about specific points the Deputy raised, the operation of the public wastewater treatment systems, together with operational issues locally, are matters for Uisce Éireann, which has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. Contracts and payments are matters for Uisce Éireann and the Minister has no function in this area. However, he has made inquiries with Uisce Éireann on the Deputy's behalf and was informed that Uisce Éireann has contracts in place with its contractors for all works and services provided. These contracts set out the applicable payment terms and the processes to be followed. Where a contractor raises a concern regarding payment, Uisce Éireann will engage directly with the contractor to understand the circumstances and to address the matter in accordance with the relevant contractual arrangements. Responsibility for the payment of subcontractors rests with the principal contractor, in line with the terms and conditions of the relevant contract. Where there are delays with some payments, there can be a number of reasons for these. Where such matters arise, Uisce Éireann endeavours to resolve them as quickly as possible, once identified. As I said, Uisce Éireann is aware of isolated challenges in relation to the timeliness of purchase requisitions and purchase order receipting. These issues have been escalated and are being dealt with as a priority. I have no doubt the Deputy has raised the matter directly with the Minister and will raise it further. His Topical issue will have drawn the attention of the Minister and no doubt will be seen by Uisce Éireann. The Deputy is representing his constituents on the ground. Furthermore, the CRU was assigned the water regulatory functions under section 27 of the Water Services Act 2013. In performing those, it has regard to a number of factors including that water services are provided by Uisce Éireann; that it operates in a commercially viable manner; that it can meet all reasonable demands for water; that it performs its functions in a manner that will enable the achievement by the State of the environmental objectives of that directive; and that it performs its functions in an open and transparent manner. I expect it is a matter the Deputy will bring up directly with the Minister as well.