State faces €40m bill over delayed transfer of water treatment plants

The state has been landed with a bill of up to €40m due to the late transfer of water treatment plants from county councils to Irish Water, despite warnings from the Department of Finance that late transfers cold be extremely costly to the state.

In December officials at the Department of Finance flagged concerns that a delay to the planed transfer, which the department had pencilled in for January 1, would mean the cost of upkeep at the plants would be loaded onto the state’s balance sheet rather than borne by Irish Water.

In a note to the Department of the Environment obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, a finance official warned that an “immediate concern ...