Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 January 2014
500. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to include Irish Water under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General in order to provide public confidence in Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3559/14]
View answerThe Water Services Act 2013 provides for the establishment of Irish Water as a subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group, conforming to the conditions contained in the Act and registered under the Companies Acts. Schedule 2 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993 sets out the bodies, including Bord Gáis Éireann, which are excluded from inspection by the Comptroller and Auditor General and section 8(3) of the Act provides that subsidiaries of bodies listed in Schedule 2 are also excluded from inspection by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The 2013 Act provides that Irish Water must maintain all accounts necessary to comply with the provisions of the Companies Acts. Irish Water, as a commercial State body within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group, is subject to all the normal governance and accountability rules which apply to such a public utility including external audit. The Act provides that Irish Water will be required to keep accounts of all moneys received or expended by it and must submit an annual report on the performance of its functions each year to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The Act also requires that the annual report is to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.
