I propose to take Questions Nos. 490 and 494 together.
The Irish Water Consultative Group was established to facilitate engagement with the Unions and staff on the roll-out of the Water Sector Reform Implementation Strategy, and had its inaugural meeting in September 2012 under an independent chair, Mr. Kevin Foley of the Labour Relations Commission. This joint union/management group was established to provide a mechanism for regular structured dialogue, consultation and engagement on issues arising from the implementation strategy, including service level agreements. These service level agreements signed between Irish Water and individual local authorities were based on a generic template, a copy of which is available on my Department’s website, under the service level agreements section at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterSectorReform/#documents.
Representation is a matter for each of the respective organisations rather than by appointment by the Chairman.
The Union side is represented by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and comprises up to 8 representatives from Congress, SIPTU, IMPACT and the Local Authority Craft Group of Unions.
The Management side is represented by officials from my Department’s Water Services and Local Government (Human Resources) Divisions; representatives from the County and City Management Association, the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) and the Water Services Transition Office; and Irish Water/Bord Gáis.
The LGMA hosts the meetings of the Group and provides secretariat services and is responsible for holding all records of the Group. I have asked the LGMA to forward the minutes including the attendees lists directly to the Deputy.