2024 Annual Report &

Financial Statements

Sustainability Report

Introduction

Sustainability is at the core of Uisce Éireann’s activities and operations. We take pride in enhancing our environment and enabling communities to thrive through the services we provide.

There are four pillars to our sustainability strategy: Environmental, Social, Governance and Collaboration internal and external, which we recognise is key to delivering important sustainable outcomes.

Environmental

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Social

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Governance

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Collaboration

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We have made considerable progress in 2024, developing our Sustainability strategy, achieving the Business Working Responsibly Mark, initiating or updating sustainability related design standards and functional specifications to support embedding sustainability into our everyday operations and activities. Our cross-functional governance structure, introduced in 2023 to review all sustainability related decision making, is fully operational and having a real impact in terms of organisational understanding of relevant Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) related topics. We are focused on not only delivering for today but also for future generations.

Sustainability Strategy

At Uisce Éireann, we are passionate about improving the sustainability of Ireland’s water services, playing our part in building a more sustainable future. Our Sustainability Strategy was finalised in 2024 and we intend to publish it during 2025. This sets out the six key areas we intend to focus our efforts to make meaningful progress in embedding sustainability into day-to-day operations and activities. These include ambitions relating to Net Zero Carbon, Biodiversity, Water Resource Management, Circular Economy, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and educating our communities on the value of water. In 2025, Uisce Éireann will commence monitoring and reporting on performance against these ambitions.

Our sustainability strategy aims to bring sustainability to the fore in all decision making, and to embed and monitor our sustainability ambitions and initiatives across Uisce Éireann.

Business Working Responsibly

In 2024, Uisce Éireann was formally accredited with the Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) Business Working Responsibly Mark, Ireland’s Economic, Environmental, Social and Governance standard. Independently verified by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, it is the standard for sustainability that fosters a culture of responsible business through continuous improvement, ongoing accountability, and leadership and as such represents an important and pivotal moment in Uisce Éireann’s journey to becoming a sustainability exemplar. 

As Uisce Éireann continues to make sustainability a key driver in decision making associated with the delivery of transformative water services, this public, independently verified vote of confidence and recognition of our sustainability efforts is an important milestone.

Logos for 'Business Working Responsibly' and 'Business in the Community Ireland.'
Aerial view of large estuary.

Environment

Note: Data referenced as published by Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) annual report on public sector energy performance (2022 data). We anticipate SEAI to publish verified 2023 and 2024 data during 2025.

Climate Change

Managing climate change impacts and risks is and will become increasingly more important for Uisce Éireann. As the resilience of our water services is susceptible to being affected by climate change threats, Uisce Éireann must prioritise sustainability efforts to help mitigate and manage these occurrences. We should also consider the positive influence we can have on our natural ecosystems, the communities we serve, and the wider supply chain by instigating and implementing change.

Climate Adaptation

We continue to integrate climate adaptation actions into our activities and infrastructure plans. The National Water Resources Plan (NWRP) is our 25-year plan to identify how we will provide a safe, sustainable, secure and reliable water supply for our customers and communities, whilst safeguarding the environment. The plan allows us to integrate potential climate change impacts into the planning and operation of our existing and future supply asset base.

The development of Nature Based Solutions, including Integrated Constructed Wetlands and Sludge Drying Reed Beds, will contribute to building climate resilience into our asset base. Our capital infrastructure works are being designed for climate resilience which includes urban climate modelling, flood protection planning, storm water management and sewer network improvements. Our operational management incorporates continuity planning to address the impacts of the extreme and increasing frequency of storm events and flooding.

Net Zero

At Uisce Éireann, we are committed to taking meaningful actions toward achieving net zero in line with government climate targets. As one of the country’s largest energy consuming public sector organisations, we recognise the scale of the challenge in transforming into a national utility that not only aligns with, but also supports our purpose, vision, and strategic objectives, while safeguarding and enhancing the environment on which our services depend. The starting point on our net zero journey is to initially understand the scope of current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including a comprehensive measurement of our scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions in accordance with the GHG Protocol.

We remain committed to achieving the public sector targets included in the National Climate Action Plan, to meet the 51% absolute energy-related total GHG emission reduction target by 2030.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

GHG Emission Scope 1, 2, 3

Uisce Éireann’s approach to calculating our GHG Scope 1 & 2 and some Scope 3 emissions is based on a standardised carbon accounting workbook and methodology, developed by the UK Water Industry Research Limited for quantifying operational greenhouse gas emissions in the Water Industry.

Our GHG Scope 1 emissions refer to direct emissions that occur from sources owned or controlled by Uisce Éireann. In 2025, a key focus to reduce these GHG emissions will require updating our monitoring systems and innovative practices to tackle our process emissions which will inform our climate transition plans.

GHG Scope 2 emissions refers to indirect emissions from the consumption of purchased electricity. Our emissions are based on Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) verified electricity consumption data published annually.

For GHG Scope 3 emissions, Uisce Éireann has assessed the GHG emissions related to chemical usage (Category 3.1) and electricity transmission and distribution (Category 3.3). Additionally, we have included a high-level carbon hotspot analysis based on procurement spend to identify the impact of our supply chain on Scope 3 emissions.

As illustrated below, Scope 1 represents 22.5% of Uisce Éireann’s market-based GHG footprint, while Scope 2 makes up 26.5%. Within Scope 1, emissions from wastewater treatment contribute to 21% of our total GHG emissions. The remaining 51% of our footprint falls under Scope 3 hotspot emissions.

tCO2

% of Market Based

Scope 1 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Total

210,048

22.5%
  • Fossil Fuels

14,770
  • Process and Fugitive

181,865
  • Fugitive emissions

1,434
  • Emissions from digestion

7,189
  • Transport

4,790

Scope 2 (Location Based)

173,212

Scope 2 (Market Based)

247,660

26.5%

Scope 3 (Hotspot)

477,617

51%

Total Location-based*

860,877.4

Total Market-based**

935,325.5

100%

* Location-based figures use average grid emissions to calculate electricity emissions.

** Market-based figures use emission factors specific to the actual electricity purchased.

Energy & Energy Efficiency

Uisce Éireann is mandated, through the National Climate Action Plan, to improve its energy efficiency by 50% by 2030 against a 2009 benchmark (adjusted for population served). The energy performance indicator (EnPI), measures energy performance by dividing the organisation’s total primary energy consumption by an activity metric, in the case of Uisce Éireann, population served. Each year we submit our energy consumption data to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) who validate and publish our updated energy efficiency performance. In 2024, we have implemented additional measures as we remain committed to achieving the 2030 target.

Renewable Energy

To achieve our Net Zero ambition, ensuring a sufficient supply of renewable energy generation is a key enabler to achieve our goal. Biogas plays an essential role and is our principle on-site renewable energy source and a key contributor to achieving our renewable energy ambitions. Biogas is generated from our wastewater sludge anaerobic digestion plants and reduces our reliance on fossil fuels. In 2023, we produced circa 100MWh Biogas across 10 sites and for 2024, we anticipate a similar production level. During 2024, funding was approved for Phase 1 of a new Biogas Optimisation Program. The aim of this program is to assess and optimise biogas production and usage of biogas generated at our anaerobic digestion plants to maximise the potential of this strategic resource.

In addition to biogas, we continue to expand our solar photovoltaic (PV) programme as a complementary source of renewable energy.

Water

Uisce Éireann can make a positive impact to providing a safe, secure and reliable water supply to our customers and communities by balancing the supply and demand for drinking water over the short, medium and long term. This involves using less, losing less and supplying smarter, as set out in the National Water Resource Plan. Addressing and reducing leakage remains one of Uisce Éireann’s top priorities. We aim to reduce it to below 20% by 2030 across the GDA and 2034 nationally.

Business Energy Achievement Award

In 2024, we were awarded ‘Best Energy Achievement in Public Sector’ for our work in delivering sustainable water services for Ireland.

Logo of 'Business Energy Achievement' 2024 award.

Biodiversity

The ability of Uisce Éireann to provide sustainable water and wastewater services relies heavily on a proper functioning natural environment. At Uisce Éireann we have been operating a Biodiversity ‘no net loss’ approach for new projects and we intend to progress this to Biodiversity Net Gain across all new projects by 2030.

We recognise and proactively advocate for the need to increase and accelerate efforts to halt the decline of biodiversity and are committed to ensuring that we build and manage our infrastructure responsibly so that our ecosystems are protected and where possible, enhanced. The benefits of biodiversity are clear when it comes to protecting the quality of our drinking water sources and incorporating nature-based solutions.

Our Biodiversity Action Plan continues to help us conserve, enhance and work with the natural environment. It provides the tools to manage each site in ways that will benefit and enhance biodiversity and tailor enhancement measures to suit each individual site. Uisce Éireann is actively progressing more ‘Nature based solutions’ in our plans and projects to avoid impact and benefit biodiversity such as Integrated Constructed Wetlands, Sludge Drying Reed Beds, Stormwater wetlands, Sustainable Urban Drain water systems (SUDs), Reed Beds Polishing Filters and Grasscrete.

Case Study

At Uisce Éireann we are continually seeking out ways to value and enhance our natural environment and promote biodiversity. Uisce Éireann is a partner in the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan and implements the actions of the Plan across all Uisce Éireann sites. This involves setting clear measures to support and increase our pollinator population on Uisce Éireann sites to promote biodiversity.

'Managed for the Great Yellow Bumblebee' with a bee on a flower; All-Ireland Pollinator Plan logo.
Close up of bee on green plat to the foreground. Background is out of focus.

All Uisce Éireann’s biodiversity enhancement measures are pollinator friendly and are in line with the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. A great example of the benefits of managing our grasslands in this way is demonstrated at our site in Belmullet, Mayo where site management is supporting the Great Yellow Bumblebee in tandem with the Great Yellow Bumblebee European Innovation Partnership Project and Belmullet Tidy Towns, County Mayo. The Great Yellow Bumblebee was once found across Ireland but is now confined to a small number of locations along the western coast and is endangered within Ireland. The aim of this project was to improve the abundance of native flowers on lands of the Mullet peninsula and Erris coastal mainland to provide vital food and nesting places for bees.

3 people in conversation over lunch in office canteen setting.

Social

Our People

We proactively manage and identify the impacts of our business on employees, customers and communities. We are committed to ensuring our business makes a positive impact in the communities in which we operate. Uisce Éireann continued to support its strong partnerships and community programmes. These programmes promote positive behaviours in water and wastewater related activities in homes and businesses and increase awareness of water related issues and the benefits of making simple positive changes.

A teal circular icon with a white exclamation mark inside a triangle.

Putting Safety First

Uisce Éireann is committed to enhancing the safety culture through the Work Safe Home Safe framework and initiatives, which are designed to ensure staff and delivery partners are empowered to prioritise safe ways of working.

Despite the ongoing focus on safety, we are reminded that our activities carry risk which always have the potential to cause harm. Tragically on the 29th of May 2024, a person working on behalf of one of our third-party delivery partners had a fatal accident during works at the Roscrea Wastewater Treatment Plant. The incident is currently under investigation with the Health and Safety Authority.

Uisce Éireann is committed to enhancing the safety culture through the Work Safe Home Safe framework and initiatives, which are designed to ensure staff and delivery partners are empowered to prioritise safe ways of working.

The Work Safe Home Safe strategic three-year plan was approved by the Board in 2023 and is in year one of implementation. This strategic plan acknowledges the organisational safety challenges and focuses on managing these through key pillars including leadership and culture, safe assets and workplaces, safe ways of working, and safe delivery partners, and health and well-being. Implementation of the plan is on target with some key initiatives delivered this year.

2024 brought the relaunch of our Work Safe Home Safe Framework, which now incorporates our new safety value “we keep each other safe”. This was launched to all staff at our CEO All Hands and at Water and Wastewater days nationwide.

An unprecedented milestone was achieved in 2024, with the transfer of 31 safety management systems from the Local Authorities to Uisce Éireann and their subsequent implementation. Whilst implementing the existing Safety Management Systems, Uisce Éireann is committed to the development and roll out of one integrated safety management system (SMS). Key components delivered in 2024 include the development of content that will standardise the approach to health and safety in water services, the procurement of business intelligence tools which will enable Uisce Éireann to share safe ways of working with frontline staff, monitor compliance nationally and communicate safety messages to staff across large geographical areas. Some key initiatives include the creation of a user friendly Work Safe Home Safe Booklet for frontline staff, Safety Resource hub, critical procedures and guidelines for our new workforce. Safety training including line manager training has been delivered to front line staff with 84% completion rates. The establishment of a local and national Safety Representatives forum has ensured that frontline staff are included in the health and safety transformation management journey.

“Am I SAFE?”, our safety campaign for delivery partners continued to grow in 2024 with the launch of a website, to share safety resources across delivery partners in the water industry. A unique element of the website is the sharing of good catch and close call alerts through short site videos. During the year “Am I SAFE?”, was also extended to our Design Build and Operate (DBO) delivery partners. We also worked with our delivery partners and the National Construction Training Centre to develop a frontline supervision training programme. Other highlights during the year include: a webinar early in the year with the ESB and Gas Networks Ireland to highlight awareness of service avoidance; launch of golden rules for critical risk management; development of a golden rule for pipe deliveries and the collaboration with our delivery partners to support an extensive programme of safety events for construction safety month. Throughout the year Uisce Éireann worked closely with the Lighthouse Charity to facilitate site visits, making construction workers aware of the supports available to them. This focus on mental health and construction wellbeing culminated in a hugely successful Caring for Christmas campaign, which Uisce Éireann ran with our delivery partners to start more conversations on the personal challenges people in the industry face, particularly over the Christmas period.

Throughout the year Uisce Éireann held targeted health and safety campaigns and initiatives to proactively improve safety including our winter driving campaign, targeting critical high-risk areas working with underground services, working with live traffic and tools, plant and equipment. During the year over 3,477 safety conversations were conducted, to ensure the Work Safe Home Safe culture is embedded. Our Mental Health and Wellbeing initiatives have resulted in an increase in the number of trained Mental Health First Aiders (currently 181) and staff continue to be encouraged to form healthy habits through initiatives such as ‘Time to Talk’ and our ‘digital wellbeing platform”. We have also established an occupational health department to support our new workforce with the roll out of the Uisce Éireann vaccination programme as one of their first initiatives.

The WSHS pillars embed the safety values in our activities by providing both staff and delivery partners with tangible tools to support them. The Uisce Éireann health and safety management system is based on recognised standards (ISO 45001 certification) and has been recertified by an external party. It applies to 100% of our own workforce and to anybody who works under the direct management and control of Uisce Éireann.

A teal circular icon with two white outlined user figures.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Uisce Éireann employs almost 2,300 people, who together with circa 2,200 staff in Local Authorities working on behalf of Uisce Éireann, deliver water and wastewater services. We recognise the importance of equality, diversity, and inclusivity among our workforces.

Now in its sixth year, the Uisce Éireann Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) ibelong programme of work is governed by, the newly appointed in 2024, Uisce Éireann DE&I Council, a cross-functional multi-level employee forum, under the stewardship of Executive sponsorship. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council progressed work on the next iteration of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy that sets the strategic direction for 2024-2026. The Uisce Éireann DE&I Council and the ibelong programme of work are key to the delivery of THRIVE as we aim to ‘Harness a Safe, Diverse, Inclusive Culture, where our people are empowered and high performing’.

The DE&I Council is made up of employee representatives. Our five employee led resource groups, Women’s network, Ability network, Ethnicity and Cultural network, Family network and Rainbow network, hold numerous membership events, create connections between employees and engage in discussions with leadership to help shape a more inclusive Uisce Éireann. Thirty-six events were held in 2024, creating awareness and delivering educational sessions within Uisce Éireann.

In 2024, we saw the launch of our Disability Awareness e-learn, delivered by our ibelong Ability network, providing Uisce Éireann colleagues with a comprehensive understanding of disability. The training provides guidance on the challenges of outdated views of disability and instead embraces the social model of disability, which emphasises removing barriers and creating equitable opportunities for everyone to participate fully in society.

Our Rainbow network, supported by Pride at work, delivered key awareness talks internally and participated in Dublin and Galway Pride events in 2024. Our Women’s network, with our HR teams, had the privilege of supporting an event organised by the charity WorkEqual, welcoming 60 women who are on their journey towards employment, and providing them with a series of empowering experiences to boost their confidence and career prospects.

Uisce Éireann has been nominated and are finalists for the Irish Centre of Diversity awards 2025 in the category “Public Sector Organisation of the Year Award” - CIPD Ireland Finalist Equality, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Company of the year. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion specialist was successful in winning two prestigious awards for DE&I Emerging Leader (ICFD) and Diversity Champion CIPD. Our Ethnicity and Cultural network were among the Diversity in Technology finalists for the special recognition initiative for our Holiday Swap policy.

Uisce Éireann continues to adhere to the Diversity Charter Ireland, the Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) Elevate Pledge, Inclusive Workplace Pledge and collaborates with UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) platform research and data on demographics of workforce in water utilities in UK and Ireland. 

The DE&I Index measures employee sentiment relating to inclusion and is reported annually as part of employee engagement. The score for 2024 is 86%, which is 4% above the Irish national average, as per the benchmark from the provider of the Uisce Éireann employee engagement survey. 

A teal circular icon with a white euro currency symbol inside.

Gender Pay Gap

Addressing our Gender Pay Gap is an important element of the Uisce Éireann DE&I agenda, as we strive to increase female representation at all levels and to ensure we are creating an environment where everyone feels valued and recognised at work. 

The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage of males and females across the organisation. Uisce Éireann published its third Gender Pay Gap report on 13 December 2024 for the pay period 27 June 2023 to 26 June 2024. This report provides us with insights into areas where we need to focus our efforts as well as reflecting our ongoing commitment to transparency and improvement in gender equality in the organisation. We reported a mean gender pay gap of 2.31%, meaning that on average, males earn 2.31% more than females, based on all organisational levels. This figure reflects the point in time we’re at in our journey to transform water services in Ireland. During this period, we experienced significant growth in our workforce and a changing employee profile.

In addition, we are proud to see initiatives that support gender equality and female career progression start to bear fruit. We anticipate that the period between now and the end of 2026 is likely to cause fluctuations in our gender pay gap year on year. The work we are doing to address our Gender Pay Gap is essential to progressing our DE&I agenda, increasing female representation at all levels and to ensuring we are creating an environment where everyone feels valued and recognised at work. This report is published on our website and includes detail of the key drivers and our action plan.

Graduate Programme

In 2024, we had an improved profile of female talent on the graduate programme to 52% in 2024 and 45% of the intake are international students. In addition, this year we had our first STEM Summer Internship where we also had 50% females within STEM areas of the business. Uisce Éireann has retained the same Gradireland ranking in 2024 as the prior year, at 46th most attractive graduate employer in Ireland.

Human Rights

At Uisce Éireann, we are building respect for human rights into our organisational vision for a sustainable Ireland where water is respected and protected, for the planet and all the lives it supports. Policy is available on our website www.water.ie.

Governance

Business Conduct

Please refer to the Report of the Board for further information in relation to:

  • Protected disclosures.
  • Code of Business Conduct.
  • Anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy.
  • Anti-fraud policy.
  • Regulation of Lobbying.
  • Prompt payment policy.
Technical operative in an office monitorig setting with numerous screens in his view and a large wall screen in the background.

Collaboration

Circular Economy

We are progressing initiatives taking a circular economy model for the management of our sludges as they provide a sustainable source of precious finite materials, providing an alternative complement to raw materials currently being used.

Water sludge contain aluminium residual from the treatment process to remove organics from the raw water source. This has traditionally limited the use for the sludge, often resulting in landfill disposal. Over recent years we have actively investigated alternative options and now send this sludge for use in cement production and land reclamation. In 2024, we achieved c. 95% of our water sludge going to circular economy outlets.

For wastewater sludge, our innovative phosphorus recovery (P-recovery) facility solves nutrient management challenges by recovering phosphorus and nitrogen (as ammonia) from municipal streams as a magnesium ammonium phosphate (struvite) precipitate. This transforms these nutrients into a sustainable fertiliser product.

Innovation

During 2024, the Innovation Standards and Specifications team continued to drive progress towards our sustainability targets, working on projects including the improvement of both Water Networks and Wastewater Treatment Functional Specification. These documents outline the high-level design requirements when designing an asset as a system over the lifecycle of the asset incorporating lifecycle inputs, design philosophy and tools to optimise sustainability, cost and performance holistically. In 2024, a project on “Engineered Nature Based Solutions (NBS) for Wastewater Treatment” was mobilised with the aid of €1.26m award from the Water Services Innovation Fund. The team also developed a strategic partnership with ESB to explore the role of wastewater re-use in Hydrogen production, including circular economy synergies with our operations.

3 engineers in conversation at an outdoor site works reviewing technical drawings.
Operating review
The Uisce Éireann Board