Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 February 2014
118. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5786/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraIrish Water is being established to accelerate capital investment in water services and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of water services delivery. The organisation needs to be appropriately resourced to fulfil this task but will not be over-staffed. Irish Water is currently recruiting to build up the required internal capabilities and the number of staff employed is an operational matter for the organisation. I understand that the numbers and competencies were determined through a detailed planning process. It was agreed by the Steering Group for the Water Sector Reform programme that, to ensure skills within the sector were fully availed of in building up the new organisation, competitions for positions in asset management, capital delivery and operations would be restricted to staff in the partner organisations i.e. Bord Gáis Éireann, local authorities and my Department in the first instance. Open competitions are held for all other positions and details of these are available on Irish Water's website.
Data supplied to my Department by Irish Water indicate that 346 staff have been recruited to up to 31 January 2014. The breakdown of these staff in terms of their employment immediately before recruitment is as follows: 125 from Local Authorities, 61 from Bord Gáis, 6 from my Department and 154 were externally recruited.
The Water Services (No.2) Act 2013 provides that responsibility for the economic regulation of the water sector, including the setting of charges, be assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). In particular, the CER will be responsible for approving the water charges plans prepared by Irish Water, and for approving codes of practice to be prepared by Irish Water. The primary role of the Regulator will be to protect the interests of customers, by ensuring that they receive a consistent and appropriate level of service and that Irish Water discharges its functions in a cost effective manner. The CER proposes to undertake a public consultation on the approach to the design of domestic water tariffs during 2014.
