Skip to main content
Normal View

Irish Water Expenditure

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 January 2014

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Questions (422, 426, 432, 451, 453, 454, 459, 460, 495)

Barry Cowen

Question:

422. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the source of the €180 million in set-up costs for Irish Water; if the figure was ever debated by the Houses of the Oireachtas at any level; if so, where; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3104/14]

View answer

Joe Higgins

Question:

426. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will reveal the names of the consultants that Irish Water used in 2013; and if he will provide a breakdown of the fees each of them received. [2303/14]

View answer

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

432. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown of the €50 million spent on consultants that neither his Department nor Irish Water have so far provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2458/14]

View answer

Barry Cowen

Question:

451. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has had any communications with Irish Water regarding to the non-tendering of contracts for external supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2712/14]

View answer

Barry Cowen

Question:

453. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the communications he has had with Irish Water on consultancy costs; the date on which he was made aware of the €85 million spend on external consultants by Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2714/14]

View answer

Barry Cowen

Question:

454. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the date on which he approved the overall budget for Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2715/14]

View answer

Barry Cowen

Question:

459. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total spending undertaken by Bord Gáis prior to the formal establishment of Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2720/14]

View answer

Barry Cowen

Question:

460. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the concerns his Department raised with Irish Water regarding PR and branding spending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2721/14]

View answer

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

495. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will indicate when he became aware that the spending of Irish Water was going to reach €86 million with the hiring of consultants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2956/14]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos . 422, 426, 432, 451, 453, 454, 459, 460 and 495 together.

The establishment of Irish Water is an integral component of the Government’s water sector reform strategy and involves major organisational change, an entirely new funding structure governed by economic regulation, the introduction of domestic water charges based on usage and the roll-out of a national domestic metering programme. The role of my Department is to drive the overall water sector reform process which includes developing the policy and legislation and ensuring delivery of the implementation strategy which was published in December 2012. The role of Bord Gáis Éireann (BGE) was key to bringing the necessary skills and competencies to the project, allowing the utility to be established within an ambitious timeline at least cost and least risk, by leveraging from its knowledge, systems and skills and matching this with skills within the water sector. It was recognised that in addition external service providers would be required as part of this process.

BGE had responsibility for most of the deliverables under the Government water sector reform implementation strategy. BGE developed a detailed programme initiation document within the framework of this strategy, which outlined all of the tasks required to establish a fully functioning integrated public water utility and provided this to my Department in August 2012. It also provided an associated budget to my Department which outlined the costs involved in each area of activity, totalling €150m plus €30m contingency and reflecting both the use of BGE and external resources. The budget reflected the range of tasks to be undertaken from financial, governance, regulatory business capability, systems, brand management and customer engagement perspectives. It was understood from the engagement with BGE that the majority of the funding under the heading of brand management and customer engagement would be used for customer engagement.

These establishment costs were initially funded by BGE and subsequently financed by a loan from the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF). No Exchequer funds or voted Department expenditure has been provided to BGE or to Irish Water for establishment costs. As these costs were to be included in the overall funding model for Irish Water, they would also be examined by the Commission for Energy Regulation as an integral element of the independent economic regulation of Irish Water. Against this background, and in advance of the establishment of Irish Water, my Department provided confirmation to BGE that spending being properly incurred on the water services activities would be recoverable in the event that the project was not proceeded with or, subject to meeting certain conditions, be recoverable as part of the funding model to be reviewed by the Commission. This initial commitment was provided by my Department in December 2012 and updated on a number of occasions in advance of the incorporation of Irish Water and the consent to the NPRF lending. My consent, given with consent of the Ministers for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, for Irish Water to enter into the loan arrangement with the NPRF for metering and establishment costs was provided in July 2013, with an understanding of the overall estimated budget involved. My Department was notified of some €62m in spending over the course of the months immediately prior to the incorporation of Irish Water in July 2013. In compliance with the conditions attached by my Department to the recovery of establishment costs, BGE confirmed that public procurement rules were being observed and provided a report on the outcome of the process in March 2013.

The procurement by Irish Water of external resources was a matter for the company and I had no role in approving individual contracts. However, the company has indicated to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht last week that the following major companies were used by the Irish Water Programme to help deliver the required systems and processes in the establishment of Irish Water - IBM, Accenture, Ernst & Young and KPMG. The company also indicated that to date some €50m has been spent on external service providers in establishing Irish Water. Further details of the contracts relating to the establishment of Irish Water are set out in the submission made by the company to the Joint Oireachtas Committee last week and this submission has been published on the company’s website at www.water.ie.

Top
Share