Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2016
410. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when he will suspend domestic water charges and if he will do so retrospective to the formation of this Government or to the coming together of the Thirty-second Dáil; if he will reimburse those who have paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10403/16]
View answerUnder the confidence and supply arrangement agreed in the context of facilitating a minority government, the Government is committed to introducing and supporting legislation in the Oireachtas, within six weeks of its appointment, to suspend domestic water charges for a period of nine months from the end of the current bill cycle. This is to allow for the Oireachtas to decide on the enduring funding model for Irish Water. The confidence and supply arrangement also states that those who have paid their water bills to date will be treated no less favourably than those who have not. The proposed details of the suspension will be set out in the legislation when published.
