Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 February 2013
440. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will confirm as per the IMF staff report on Ireland of December 2012, that he has given a commitment to bring in water charges in the near future; the way in which charges will be calculated; the methods of collection that have been proposed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7110/13]
View answerThe Programme for Government and the Memorandum of Understanding with the EU, the IMF and the ECB provide for the introduction of domestic water charges. It is not intended that domestic water charges will commence before 2014. The Government considers that charging based on usage is the fairest way to charge for water and it has decided that water meters should be installed in households connected to public water supplies. The Government has also decided that Irish Water, a new State-owned water company to be established as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group, will be responsible for the metering programme.
The Water Services Bill 2013, consideration of which will continue in Dáil Éireann this week, will assign the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake the metering programme. The Bill also assigns to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) the power to advise the Government on the development of a regulatory framework for water services. The Government intends assigning to CER a full range of regulatory powers before the commencement of domestic water charges. This will include powers to set tariffs as well as the establishment of customer protection and dispute resolution measures. The framework for water charges will be developed, consulted on and approved by CER as part of the regulatory process.
Irish Water will be required to have a range of options in place to assist householders in paying their bills. For example, a wide range of flexible payment options is available for the other utility services and it is expected that these will be replicated for water services.
