An extra E20.5m from the Local Government Fund will be provided to help city and county councils with running costs on their water and sewerage treatment plants, Environment Minister, john Gormley said today.

This follows on from an additional E1.5 million from the Fund that was notified to authorities last April to support training needs in the water services sector. The additional E22 million is on top of the Local Government Fund general purposes grants of E870 million, notified to authorities earlier this year, the Minister said.

The Minister said that the E20.5 million was additional to the capital spend of E508 million available to his Department in 2010 to fund water services infrastructure. Average spending on water services infrastructure over the period 2009 and 2010 will be up 3pc on the 2008 outturn.

"Given the ongoing economic difficulties, this continuing high level of expenditure reflects the Government's ongoing commitment to preserving and protecting our water resources, to meeting EU standards for drinking water and wastewater treatment and to putting critical infrastructure in place that will ensure ongoing support for industrial, commercial and other development," the Minister said.