Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 October 2022
361. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department receives reports from Irish Water regarding the length of time it is taking to connect new residential schemes to a water supply. [51934/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels in accordance with Section 7 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013. This includes the connection of new houses to the water services network. Irish Water has been given statutory responsibility in this domain, and I, as Minister, have no function in relation to this matter.
Responsibility for the independent economic regulation of Irish Water has been assigned to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). In accordance with Part V of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013, the CRU is responsible for the determination of the charges and charging arrangements that shall apply to customers of Irish Water. On this basis, the CRU has come to its own independent assessment of the appropriate charges and charging arrangements that shall apply to new network connections.
The charging arrangements for Irish Water customers is a matter in the first instance for Irish Water. Any issues, which cannot be resolved by Irish Water to the satisfaction of the customer can be referred under the formal complaints process to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) whose decision on the matter is binding on Irish Water.
My Department receives quarterly progress updates on key statistics and information on investments linked to housing and housing initiatives relating to 'Housing for All' including the delivery of new connections.
At the end of Q2 2022, Irish Water responded to 88% of pre-connection enquiries and 79% of connection applications within 16 weeks. In the first six months of 2022, Irish Water issued positive responses to 1,572 enquiries associated with 58,418 housing units and issued 2,392 connection offers associated with 18,044 housing units. Customers have accepted 1,584 offers associated with 13,259 housing units. Irish Water completed 1,908 connections to water infrastructure associated with 10,723 housing units.
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. The team can be contacted via email to oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on a dedicated number, 0818 578 578.
