The Water Services Act 2013 provides for the establishment of Irish Water as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group and assigns the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake the water metering programme. Regional management contractors were appointed by Irish Water following a public tendering process. These contractors have responsibility for appointing sub-contractors who are responsible for recruiting suitably qualified staff to carry out the work. It is expected they will utilise the resources of sub-contractors from a pre-qualified panel created by my Department. The installation programme commenced in August 2013 and will be implemented nationally as quickly as possible. When fully geared up, at least 27,000 boundary boxes will be installed every month by Irish Water sub-contractors.
The timeframe and the allocation of resources for the installation of meters in each region is a matter for Irish Water.