Group water schemes are owned by the group members and all matters relating to the operation and management of schemes, including the setting and collection of members' contributions, are the responsibility of the group itself.
The national rural water monitoring committee has compiled a charter of rights and responsibilities for the group scheme sector which sets out, inter alia, consumers’ rights on a supply of water, the right to information and a procedure for dealing with complaints. The charter states that a group scheme should not disconnect a water supply to a member save only where a serious and continued breach of the scheme’s own rules is occurring.
The National Federation of Group Water Schemes encourages all group schemes to formally adopt the charter. In addition, my Department stipulates it as a condition of obtaining subsidy towards the operational cost of schemes that groups should have accepted the charter.
Following the letter referred to in the question my Department was in touch with the federation and received an assurance that the position regarding necessitous cases will be addressed in the context of the federation's management and development training programme for group water schemes.