Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 October 2014
172. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason there is no emergency number for Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40728/14]
View answer173. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the way a customer contacts Irish Water in the case of an emergency as a person (details supplied) in County Dublin had no water and could not contact Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40730/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 172 and 173 together.
Irish Water has established a customer support call centre which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This call centre is designed for reporting of any faults in water services and assisting customers with any queries related to water services. If a householder experiences an interruption to the water supply to their house, they are asked to contact Irish Water’s customer contact centre at 1890 278 278. The call centre is also contactable on the national number 01 707 2828. Irish Water will then engage with the customer to find out the source of the interruption. If it is linked to an occurrence on the public infrastructure, this will be explained to the customer over the course of the call and the expected time for the full resumption of service will be provided. Irish Water has set up a system of outage notifications with each of the local authorities and this information is also available to customers on the Irish Water website at http://www.water.ie/help-centre/service-updates/.
Where there is an unplanned outage on the public infrastructure, the local authority, working as agents of Irish Water, will also send information notices to local radio stations, send out SMS text alerts to registered users, and update their websites with the information.
Not all household supply interruptions are related to an occurrence on the public infrastructure. In some cases, a further investigation is needed and, in this instance, Irish Water will arrange a call out by the relevant local authority, working on behalf of Irish Water, to the location provided.
The customer contact centre line (1890 278 278) is not currently experiencing any delays. A separate number, 1890 448 448, has been established to assist, in a dedicated way, with queries about, and completion of, the new customer application form, and is open from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week for this purpose. Irish Water can also be contacted by email and the application form can also be completed on line. All details are clearly outlined on the company website, www.water.ie.
Irish Water has indicated that if the person in question contacts the customer contact centre directly, the company will endeavour to investigate the matter further.
Irish Water has also 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.
