The Water Services Act 2013 provided for the establishment of Irish Water as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group (now Ervia) and assigns the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake the water metering programme. My Department had no involvement in the award of the contracts for the water metering programme. Following a tender process, the final cost of the metering programme was determined at €539m excluding VAT. The cost reflects the outcome of the procurement process taking account of the overall logistics of a programme of this scale and complexity.
The initial estimates of the cost of the domestic metering programme were based largely on the experience of the non-domestic metering programme, the group water sector and market soundings, as there was no precedent for a programme of this scale over a very short duration. The estimate was based on much smaller scale projects than the national domestic metering programme and was not a definitive budget. As with all capital projects, estimates are refined as the detailed technical scoping of the project evolves, including matters such as appropriate risk allocation and programme management and, ultimately, it is the competitive process that determines the price. The final budget figure reflects the outcome of the detailed scoping of the project and the procurement process.
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives and has contacted all Oireachtas members to provide details of an improved level of service which it is aiming to provide. The team can be contacted via email to oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on a new dedicated number, 1890 578 578.
