Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 April 2014
120. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding water metering; if he will provide a detailed reply to the list of questions included in the submission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18186/14]
View answer122. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the system or protocols that are in place where a water leak arises from the installation of a water meter by contractors for Irish Water; if his attention has been drawn to the ongoing delays in having such leaks repaired due to delays in deciding who from Irish Water, the local authority or the home owner is responsible for its repair; and if he will ensure there are clear protocols in place for the speedy repair of such leaks. [18209/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 120 and 122 together.
The Programme for Government sets out a commitment to the introduction of water charges based on usage above a free allowance. The Government considers that charging based on usage is the fairest way to charge for water and it has, therefore, decided that water meters should be installed in households connected to public water supplies. The Water Services Act 2013 provide for the establishment of Irish Water as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group and assigned the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake this metering programme.
Local authorities are in the final stages of a pre-installation survey of households connected to public water supplies. The survey is providing information to Irish Water on the properties that can be metered. The intention is that a meter will be installed in any household connected to a public water supply where it is technically feasible to do so. Where a suitable boundary box for a water meter has already been installed in a property, this will be identified in the survey. Irish Water has also recently commissioned a study on possible approaches to metering properties that are not part of the current metering programme, including apartments and properties with shared service connections. This report was recently submitted to my Department for consideration. Any proposals for the metering of such properties would need to be considered by the Government in the first instance.
It was always anticipated that in the course of installing a meter, pre-existing leaks and other latent defects due to the age or condition of the water pipes would be discovered. Accordingly, where a leak occurs, it is not necessarily the case that it was caused by Irish Water’s contractors. The meter installation programme gives Irish Water a strong starting point for mains rehabilitation by enabling the discovery of pre-existing leaks and helping to target more effective investment in leak repair. Where a leak is identified on the public water mains, the repairs are undertaken by the local authority, acting as agents for Irish Water, as agreed under the Service Level Agreements. In order to ensure that there was no delay to the metering project and to ensure that no Local Authority was financially disadvantaged by having to redeploy resources, my Department provided funding to contribute towards this expenditure incurred between the start of the metering programme and 31 December 2013. In 2014, the cost of these repairs is part of the operating costs of Irish Water.
Where the leak is identified as being within the boundary of the property (i.e. is identified as being on the customer side of the property) under the 2007 Water Services Act, the repair of the leak has been, and remains, the responsibility of the individual householder. As part of the metering programme, my Department, in conjunction with Irish Water, is currently working on a proposal regarding customer-side leakage, the implementation arrangements for which will have to be worked out with Irish Water.
Domestic water charges will commence with effect from 1 October 2014 and Irish Water will issue the first bills to domestic customers from January 2015. The approach to charging will be outlined by Irish Water in a water charges plan to be submitted by it to the CER in line with the provisions of the Act. The CER will be responsible for approving the water charges plan which will set the approaches to charging domestic and non-domestic customers. The CER has already undertaken public consultations on the development of the economic regulatory framework for water services and has indicated that it will be carrying out further public consultations this month . These will include consultation on the approach to the design of domestic water tariffs for both metered and unmetered properties. Further consultations are planned for June 2014 in relation to the water charges plan to be submitted to the CER by Irish Water. Full details of the CER’s public consultation plans are available on its website (www.cer.ie).
The attendance of Irish Water at the public meeting in question is a matter for Irish Water. I would also like to inform the Deputies that Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. They may be contacted via email to oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on 1890 278 278.
