I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 150 together.
Under the Water Services Acts 2007-2013, Irish Water may request its customers and certain specified persons or bodies, including the Minister for Social Protection, to provide it with information so that it can perform its functions under these Acts. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water is responsible for public water services and that it 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, the CER, which has been given statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of customers of Irish Water.
Over 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 for which they are eligible. Irish Water will treat applicants’ personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003. In complying with these Acts, Irish Water must ensure that the data is only used for the purpose for which it was collected and must also ensure that any data collected is stored securely. Irish Water has an ongoing engagement with the Data Protection Commission who has worked closely with Irish Water to agree the process for the capture, storage and usage of customer data.
The collection of PPS numbers allows Irish Water to confirm and validate the entitlement to allowances for each customer. This information will not be shared with any organisation other than the Department of Social Protection for the purpose of verification, to ensure that each household receives the allowances it is entitled to, be it the free allowance per household or any additional allowance for children in receipt of Child Benefit at that address. I understand that Irish Water and the Department of Social Protection are developing arrangements governing the sharing of PPS information. Any such arrangements will be subject to data protection requirements.
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.
