Speaking during yesterday’s debate on the draft Grants to Water and Sewerage Undertakers Order Jim Allister said:
“I join in wishing the Minister a full and speedy recovery and in the condemnation of the trolling. Some of the trolls really are more suited to the sewers that Northern Ireland Water has responsibility for. They are beyond description.
“The measure today is another stopgap. It just keeps Northern Ireland Water somewhat in limbo through a lack of strategy. When you go to the 25-year strategic plan for Northern Ireland Water, which is supposed to take us up to 2046, you see that it states, amongst other things:
“Our status as both a Government Owned Company and a Non-Departmental Public Body is recognised as less than ideal for a provider of infrastructure investment. We require a sustainable funding model to support delivery of our strategy. There is a growing risk that the levels of service to our customers in Northern Ireland will fall behind the water companies in the rest of the UK, against which we are benchmarked by the Utility Regulator. The current Executive policy is that the funding arrangements will remain in place until 2022.”
“The date that was given when the strategy was written was 2022. Now, however, the current Executive policy seems to be that it will remain in place until 2027.
“This is not just a theoretical problem about what sort of Northern Ireland Water we should have; it is a problem with real, lasting and damaging practical consequences. As I have raised previously with the Minister, there is a series of villages in my constituency of North Antrim where capacity has been reached and where, as a consequence, no new building has been possible for years. In previous replies, the Minister has indicated that the earliest that it might be possible to do something about that for the villages of Armoy, Dervock, Mosside and Stranocum, as well as, I might add, a good part of Ballycastle, is post 2027. That is just not acceptable. It is a consequence of the funding inadequacies and arrangements that affect Northern Ireland Water.
“It manifests itself in other day-to-day issues. Last Tuesday and Friday, raw sewage was flowing across the green area behind Maine Park in Galgorm. It is appalling that things are in that state. I say to the House, therefore, that simply replicating this limbo-land for Northern Ireland Water is not forward-looking and is not sufficient to take us to the realistic funding position that we need to get to in order to deal with our substandard infrastructure. In Northern Ireland, there are 100 villages and towns that experience difficulties with waste water capacity. That is an astounding indictment.
“Yes, there is no doubt that this statutory instrument will have to be approved as yet another stopgap. Will we, however, simply be back here in five years — if we are here — with another proposition of this nature?
“The Minister may be able to cast some light on this point, which is more satiric than anything else. When I looked up www.legislation.gov.uk to look at the 2017 order, I read these words:
“This is a draft item of legislation and has not yet been made as a Northern Ireland Statutory Rule.”
“Can it be correct that, five years on, it has never been made, or has the very diligent website, www.legislation.gov.uk, got it wrong? Perhaps the Minister can tell us.”