NI Water is set to face a forensic audit into its governance systems - Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has informed the Northern Ireland Assembly that she has commissioned the audit which will be conducted by NICS Internal Audit Services.

Pointing out that the Department for Infrastructure allocates over half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money to NI Water annually in an Urgent Written Statement to the Assembly, Liz Kimmins explained:

“Regrettably, there are a number of issues which are ongoing in NI Water, some of which have been the subject of NI Water investigations and have already resulted in the need for action plans.

“The scale, volume and severity of these concerns combined with the time it has taken NI Water to conduct the required investigations, alongside other matters of compliance, have led me to conclude that this work is necessary to provide appropriate assurance that NI Water’s systems and processes are robust, effective and fit for purpose.”

The Minister has instructed the Civil Service’s Internal Audit to put in place “the necessary steps to progress this further governance audit as quickly, but as thoroughly as possible.”

Terms of Reference for the audit are currently being finalised and will be published in due course.