Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2014
506. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding water charges in larger households (details supplied) in Dublin 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44063/14]
View answer507. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if a penalty fee will be charged for late payment of water charge bills; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44064/14]
View answer520. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44234/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 506, 507 and 520 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 Act defines the customer as the occupier of the premises in respect of which the water services are provided.
The 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. On 30 September 2014, the CER issued a determination on the plan and full details and associated documentation are available on the CER website at the following link:
www.cer.ie/document-detail/CER-Water-Charges-Plan-Consultation/979.
A range of flexible payment options will be available to Irish Water’s customers. Furthermore, Irish Water has acknowledged in its water charges plan that in some circumstances it may be appropriate to extend payment terms for some customers.
Consideration is currently being given to elements of the water changing regime, including measures to ensure water charges are modest and affordable and to bring the necessary certainty and clarity to the charging arrangements.
With the installation of domestic water meters, it becomes possible to identify domestic properties with leaks. If Irish Water suspects that there is a leak at a domestic property it will inform the property owner/occupier accordingly. The occupier will also be able to check this as it will usually manifest itself as a high meter read or a continuous flow of water through the meter. If the leak is on the public side of the infrastructure it is the responsibility of Irish Water to locate and fix the leak. If the leak is on the private side of the supply pipe it is the responsibility of the customer to locate and fix the leak, as set out in the Water Services Act 2007; however, the Government has agreed to provide additional funding to Irish Water for their capital investment to include a free first fix scheme. Irish Water has made a proposal to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) regarding a ‘first fix’ policy and it is understood that the CER intend to hold a public consultation in advance of a decision and implementation of the scheme in Quarter 1 2015. The CER has decided that where a customer leak has been identified under the ‘first fix’ policy, the customer’s charges will be capped at the assessed level until the leak is fixed by Irish Water.
