Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 October 2014
184. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if a person's ability to pay will be taken into consideration by Irish Water when issuing bills for water usage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37358/14]
View answer187. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide the methodology that is being applied to arrive at the assessed basis upon which unmetered homes are to be charged for water; if he will publish the research or any other documents relating to this methodology. [37393/14]
View answer189. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when it is proposed to remove the cap on charges that will apply to metered homes following the introduction of water charges. [37395/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 184, 187 and 189 together.
With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for public water services. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water can collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. The Act also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) and the CER has been given statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of customers.
The proposed approach to charging was outlined by Irish Water in a water charges plan which it submitted to the CER in line with the provisions of the Act. The CER recently held a public consultation on this plan which covered a range of issues relating to water charges and included the proposed approach to the assessed charge . Yesterday, the CER issued a determination on the water charges plan and details and associated documentation are available on the CER website (www.cer.ie).
In making its determination on the water charges plan, the CER had to take account of the decisions made by the Government on the funding model for Irish Water and a direction made under Section 42 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 in July 2014. This policy direction addressed a number of matters relating to domestic water charges including the provision of a free allowance of 30,000 litres of water supplied and waste water treated per annum for a primary residence on a public supply and a free allowance to cover the normal usage of water services by every child in their primary residence based on the same qualifying conditions as the child benefit allowance while customers with specific medical conditions which require increased water consumption will have their charges capped.
In its determination, the CER has decided that all customers will have their total water charges capped at the unmetered “assessed charge” for 9 months. The cap will apply from the start date of the next billing period after installation of the meter or 1 October 2014 , whichever is the later.
In addition to the above, the Government has agreed to put in place further affordability measures to assist pensioners, persons with disabilities, and carers who receive the Household Benefits Package. The conditions and administrative approach to this additional measure are being developed by the Department of Social Protection. There are no plans to provide additional allowances or affordability measures, other than those announced in the Government decision.
