Water Services Provision

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 October 2014

Thursday, 9 October 2014

Questions (241)

Clare Daly

Question:

241. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason figures have been put in the public domain, that the expected yearly consumption per adult will be 52,000 litres, yet Irish Water is using a figure of 60,000 litres. [38610/14]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

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 . Last week, t he CER issued a determination on the water charges plan and details and associated documentation are available on the CER website ( www.cer.ie).

Irish Water has carried out a project to understand water consumption patterns in Ireland, and the Water Consumption Research Project (WCRP) is available on the CER website. The figures in the WCRP, based on actual metered data and follow-on surveys with over 3000 houses, confirms that consumption for a household is 66,000 litres per year for the first occupant and an average 21,000 litres increase for each additional occupant. Data on consumption patterns will be provided by Irish Water to the CER on a regular basis.

Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. The team can be contacted via email to [e-mail] or by telephone on 1890 278 278.