To ask the Minister for Infrastructure how his Department proposes to mitigate the equality implications resulting from the expected impact of reduced NI Water on social housing development, given the assessment provided in the Capital Budget 2024-25 Equality Screening.

I have provided NI Water with a total budget allocation of almost £0.5 billion in 2024-25, representing just under 40% of the total non-ring-fenced budget for my Department. This reflects the central importance of water and sewerage services to our society.

NI Water is assisting developers with development planning, including those involved in the development of social housing, by encouraging early engagement, through the Pre- Development Enquiry process, and to arrange for initial discussions on wastewater issues at the beginning of the process, to try and find a resolution to any issues at an early stage.

I can also advise that a Development Constraints Project Team has been put in place, within NI Water’s Developer Services function, to help alleviate capacity constraints, and that NI Water endeavours to facilitate development, wherever possible.

We all want to see a sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure which benefits everyone across our society; therefore, I will continue to raise the need for NI Water, to have secure and sustainable funding, with the NI Executive and the British Government, to help deliver the necessary infrastructure to enable the building of homes for all our people.