Written Answers Nos. 327-338
328. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will publish the water poverty analysis undertaken by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39165/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn January 2013, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) was commissioned by my Department to undertake a study into water affordability and the provision of water services in Ireland. Subsequently, an Inter-Departmental Working Group was established in October 2013 to advise the Government on the appropriate method for addressing affordability issues which might arise with the introduction of domestic water charges. The Group considered the ESRI study as part of their examination of the issues. The report of the Inter-Departmental Working Group, which includes the study carried out by the ESRI, has been published on my Departments’ website and is available at the following link; http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Environment/Water/FileDownLoad,38146,en.pdf.
329. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the database upon which Irish Water is basing its assessed charge for households where there are several adults resident; and the database or other sources of information upon which Irish Water may verify the number of adults present is equal to the number declared on the application form. [39167/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra330. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the way it is proposed to charge for water where persons are charged on an assessed basis but where household composition changes during the assessed charge period. [39168/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra344. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding water charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39234/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 329, 330 and 344 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 shall collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. The Act defines a customer as the occupier of the premises in receipt of water services. 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 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. The CER has now issued a determination on the water charges plan. Full details and associated documentation are available on the CER website at.
www.cer.ie/document-detail/CER-Water-Charges-Plan-Consultation/979.
In making its determination on the water charges plan, the CER had to take account of the decisions made by the Government on the funding model for Irish Water and a direction made under Section 42 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 in July 2014. This policy direction addressed a number of matters relating to domestic water charges including the billing of properties not connected to a meter on the basis of a scheme of assessed charges based on occupancy. The policy direction also requires the CER to review assessed charges in the light of emerging data on metered consumption to ensure that the assessed charges remain as close a proxy for actual usage as possible.
With charges effective from 1 October 2014 Irish Water is in the process of compiling the relevant data to ensure that customers can be billed accurately based on the tariff structure approved by the CER. Throughout the last number of weeks, Irish Water has been sending application packs to approximately 2 million households, which refer to the effective charging date and the fact that billing for domestic customers in receipt of public water services will start in January 2015. The application process will enable customers to confirm their details for billing and, by providing the relevant PPS numbers, claim the allowances that they are eligible for. This process involves customers informing Irish Water of the number of people living in a property, which is made on the basis of self-declaration.
The 2013 Act defines the customer as the occupier of the premises in respect of which the water services are provided. It also provides, unless the contrary is proved, that the owner of a premises is also the occupier of the premises. The application process gives tenants the opportunity to apply and avail of their relevant allowances and this will continue until the deadline date for applications of 31 October 2014. After this date Irish Water has advised my Department that it intends to initiate a further campaign to allow landlords provide proof that their property is occupied by a tenant and that they are not the occupant. This will remove liability from the landlord in compliance with Section 21(5) of the Act. Irish Water has an ongoing engagement with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and will ensure compliance with data protection legislation.
As outlined in the water charges plan, customers may request Irish Water to change their occupancy status at any time. Irish Water will facilitate that request subject to the change in occupancy being for a period greater than 90 days.
In its determination on the water charges plan, the CER has decided that all customers will have their total water charges capped at the unmetered “assessed charge” for 9 months. The cap will apply from the start date of the next billing period after installation of the meter or 1 October 2014, whichever is the later.
Up to 300,000 households may not be metered in the initial domestic water metering programme due to either the high cost or the technical difficulty of doing so. Irish Water has commissioned a study on possible approaches to metering properties that are not part of the current metering programme, including apartments and properties with shared service connections. On the basis of this report, it has been agreed to incorporate 48,000 apartments, identified by the report as being easily metered, into the current metering programme. The advancement of any further phase of metering will be a matter for consideration by the CER based on proposals from Irish Water. The same regime of assessed charges, based on occupancy, will apply to apartments which are not metered, as other unmetered dwellings.
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. They may be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on 1890 278 278.
332. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if provision will be made for social welfare recipients to pay their water charges through the household budget scheme with An Post. [39179/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra333. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if an easy-pay card will be available to customers of Irish Water to allow them to pay their water charges over time. [39180/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 332 and 333 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 shall 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.
In its water charges plan, Irish Water has outlined a range of payment options for its customers. The company has confirmed to my Department that it will be introducing an easy pay card in due course. In the meantime, customers will be able to present their bill repeatedly to make regular payments at paypoint or payzone outlets or at any post office. Irish Water has also advised my Department that it is examining the possibility of using the Household Budget Scheme, in relation to the payment of water charges, in consultation with the Department of Social Protection.
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. They may be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on 1890 278 278.
334. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the measures that were taken by the Government and Irish Water to ensure compliance with the Irish State's obligations under the Aarhaus Convention in relation to access to information, public participation and decision making and access to justice in environmental matters. [39182/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Aarhus Convention lays down a set of basic rules to promote citizens’ involvement in environmental matters and to improve enforcement of environmental law. The rules are broken down into three Pillars as follows: - Access to information on the environment, which allows members of the public access to a wide range of information on the environment, including information on the state of the environment, associated policies and measures, and on the state of human health and safety, where this can be affected by the state of the environment;
- Public participation which requires that parties to the Convention facilitate public participation in decisions about the environment; public authorities must have mechanisms in place to enable the public affected and environmental NGOs to comment on, for example, proposals for projects affecting the environment, or plans and programmes relating to the environment; and
- Access to justice which provides that the public have access to independent review procedures that are timely, equitable and not prohibitively expensive, to challenge decisions relating to the environment.
Prior to formal ratification of the Convention, Ireland was required to implement each provision in national law, and over 60 pieces of legislation have been used to implement the Aarhus Convention in Ireland.
As with all statutory bodies, Irish Water is required to comply with all requisite legislation pertaining to implementation of the Aarhus Convention.
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. They may be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on 1890 278 278.
335. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide full and specific details and results of all its environmental impact surveys conducted prior to commencing work including but not limited to the installation to the electromagnetic frequency omitting devices smart meters across the country. [39183/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn scoping the Water Metering Programme, the need to conduct an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) was investigated. It was determined that the metering installation programme does not come under any category specified in the EIA Directive or its Irish implementing legislation and therefore an EIS was not required. Each water meter has a low power radio unit fixed to the top which enables it to be read periodically from a passing van. This is known as Automatic Meter Reading (AMR). The AMR is dormant until the meter is read when it is activated only for the purpose of taking the meter read. This should not be confused with smart metering technology, although Irish Water is not aware of any health risks associated with smart meters.
Irish Water have procured meters and radio units that comply with all relevant European and International Standards designed to protect the health and safety of customers and the general public. The electromagnetic radiation emitted from the individual AMR meters installed or from a cluster of such meters is a minute fraction of that emitted from common household devices such as microwave ovens, Wi-fi routers, cordless phones or baby monitors. Further information is available in Irish Water’s information booklet entitled “Irish Water Meters and AMR Technology”, which is available at www.water.ie/billing-and-metering/metering-explained/.
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. They may be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on 1890 278 278.
336. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to a statement on 13 December 2013 that local authorities would receive a boost of €98 million in 2014 as receipts from local property tax and other direct allocations contributed to the funding model; in view of the fact that the local authorities are in the process of adopting budgets for 2015 and are making decisions on adjusting local property tax rates, if he will confirm that it is his plan to continue to support the local authorities by maintaining the current level of central Government support thereby enabling local authorities to retain the 80% local property tax to improve local services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39192/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe local government sector receives funding from a number of different sources, including central Government (from a number of different Departments) and the Local Government Fund. The issue of grant allocations from Central Government is a matter for finalisation in the context of the Estimates pro cess, as is normally the case. In relation to Local Property Tax (LPT), the Government has decided that 80% of LPT will be retained locally from 2015 to fund vital public services. The remaining 20% will be re-distributed to provide top-up funding to certain local authorities that have lower property tax bases due to the variance in property values across the State, in such a way as to ensure that no local authority is worse off in 2015 compared to General Purpose Grant allocations in 2014.
Every local authority has the power, from 1 July 2014, to vary the basic rate of LPT by up to 15%. In the event that a local authority decides to increase LPT rates, they will retain 100% of the additional LPT collected. Where a local authority decides to reduce LPT rates, the full cost of that reduction will be reflected in a reduced LPT allocation to that local authority. Local authorities are required to notify the Revenue Commissioners by 30 September each year where they have, by resolution, decided to vary LPT rates; for 2015, 14 local authorities availed of the opportunity to vary the rate of LPT, further details of which are available on the Revenue Commissioner’s website at http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/lpt/index.html.
The amount of LPT receipts to be retained locally in 2015 for 12 local authorities will be greater than the level of funding those individual local authorities received from General Purpose Grants in 2014. The local authorities concerned are Clare, Cork County, Cork City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Dublin City, Fingal, Galway City, Kerry, Kildare, Meath, South Dublin and Wicklow. The Government has decided that these 12 authorities will be entitled to use a certain portion of that additional funding for their own discretionary purposes as part of the normal budgetary process. That portion will be an amount equal to 20% of the total expected LPT receipts for their respective local authority areas (before any decision to vary rates) or alternatively the full amount of the additional funding where that is less than the value of 20% of LPT receipts. It will be a matter for the individual local authorities to decide how to spend that discretionary funding.
My Department has already advised local authorities of their provisional Local Property Tax allocations from the Local Government Fund for 2015.
337. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in the context of the right of residency exemption under the non-principal private residence charge, if a provision in the property owner's will to give a right of residency to a tenant is sufficient to qualify for the exemption; the degree of discretion a local authority has in applying this exemption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39204/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, provides the legislative basis for the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) Charge. The NPPR Charge of €200 per annum, which has since been discontinued, applied in the years 2009 to 2013 to any residential property in which the owner did not reside as their normal place of residence. It is a matter for an owner to determine if he or she has a liability and, if so, to declare that liability and pay the charge.
A certificate of exemption from the NPPR Charge can only be issued for the reasons specified in Section 4 of the 2009 Act. A provision in the property owner's will to give a right of residency to a tenant is not one of the specific exemptions listed in that section.
Under the Act, it is a function of a local authority to collect NPPR charges and late payment fees due to it, and all charges and late payment fees imposed and payable to a local authority are under the care and management of the local authority concerned. In this regard, application of the legislation in particular circumstances is a matter for the relevant local authority.
338. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding water charges. [39210/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraWith effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for public water services. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water shall 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 CER has now issued a determination on the water charges plan submitted to it by Irish Water. Full details and associated documentation are available on the CER website at www.cer.ie/document-detail/CER-Water-Charges-Plan-Consultation/979.
Section 22 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that for the purposes of calculation, the amount of wastewater discharged for a premises is deemed to be equal to the amount of water supplied, unless Irish Water and the customer agree otherwise. This is the standard approach for charging for water supply and waste water treatment services internationally. There will be customers who receive only one service from Irish Water; for example, they may have a private well or have an on-site waste water treatment system, and such customers will only be charged for the service they receive.
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. They may be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on 1890 278 278.
