About

State-owned Ervia is Ireland’s gas and water multi-utility. Upon its creation in 2014, it brought together Ireland’s existing gas utility (renamed Gas Networks Ireland) and newly created water utility Irish Water. Utilising a team of 14 lawyers and two non-lawyers, the legal function at Ervia supports those two core components – GNI and Irish Water – and is led by chief legal officer Rory Williams. As a completely new function able to define their role, the legal team has taken a central role in developing the strategic direction of GNI and Irish Water; assisting on projects related to GNI’s infrastructure and Irish Water’s investment and structural water services, all key projects integral to the development of strategy and meeting business objectives. Innovation is at the centre of the function and Williams has encouraged increased interaction between the legal and engineering staff through various methods of collaboration, including training sessions and the creation of a forum. The latter enabling the legal team and personnel from other disciplines to discuss ideas and issues. This encapsulates Williams’ ‘proactive rather than reactive’ approach, allowing the team to start ‘addressing risks before they become problems’. Able to cite numerous successes related to the tangible business of both GNI and Irish Water, one impressive feat achieved by the relatively new legal team is through their responsibility in helping deliver a huge and complex gas infrastructure project requiring counsel on a massive variety of legal issues. The project has a capital cost of €93.8m and involves the implementation of 50km of steel pipeline in Scotland to improve security of gas supply to Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.