Bernard Durkan
Question:
216. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if Irish Water continues to meet its obligations under the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 given the fact that the dedicated team dealing with public representatives varyingly require permissions from the entity on whose behalf the inquiry is being made pursuant to GDPR legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60892/21]
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Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels under Section 7 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 and one in which I, as Minister, has no function.
Irish Water is regulated by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities as the independent economic regulator and the Environmental Protection Agency as the independent environmental regulator.
While Irish Water is independent in the performance of its functions, my Department will enquire from Irish Water if there are issues in relation to the obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation and the service which it provides to public representatives. I will revert further to the Deputy on the matter.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51
As you are aware, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level since 1 January 2014, under Section 7 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013, and one in which I, as Minister, have no function. Irish Water is regulated by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities as the independent economic regulator and the Environmental Protection Agency as the independent environmental regulator.
While Irish Water is independent in the performance of its functions, my Department has made enquiries with Irish Water regarding them meeting their obligations under the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 with respect to enquiries from public representatives, and, in particular, whether issues are arising in relation to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation.
In their response, Irish Water has confirmed that it provides a dedicated service to all elected representatives. This is a non-statutory service over and above any statutory requirements as set out in the Water Services Acts 2007-2017. It is understood that all interactions with elected representatives are conducted in accordance with the “Guidelines on the Processing of Personal Data by Elected Representatives Under Section 40 of the Data Protection Act 2018 ” as published by the Data Protection Commission. Irish Water has outlined that in limited instances, there may be reasons other than data protection/GDPR where Irish Water is unable to provide information to an elected representative, for example, this may occur where there is a contractual relationship between Irish Water and a third party.
Irish Water remains available to any Deputies who have any queries on specific issues in relation to water services. In this regard, Irish Water has a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. The team can be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on a dedicated number, 1890 578 578.
