Mr. Paul McGowan:

I will address some of the questions and pass others to my colleagues. It probably is fair to say that it is up to the CER to establish itself as the economic regulator for water, to show by its actions that it does have customer interest at heart and is acting in the public interest when it comes to water charges. In respect of the Bord Gáis price increases, we did not award a higher increase than was sought. Bord Gáis asked for 7.5% but subsequently the international price of gas went up and its request went over 8.5% which we awarded but which was less than it asked for. Those were the facts. Our record will show that we have always shown a healthy level of scepticism about requests for price increases in submissions from utility companies. It will also show that we have rarely awarded an increase higher than the one sought. Invariably we have managed to find efficiencies which the utility company had not identified and therefore lessened the impact on the utility customer. It is important to reassure people that is the approach we take to water, a healthy level of scepticism of the submissions from utilities in order to ensure that only costs that are warranted and efficiently incurred are passed through to consumers.

The purpose of the consultation process in July is to put forward our views and submissions from Irish Water in order to gain feedback from the public rather than put out definitive positions which people would rightly criticise us for as being diktat rather than public consultation. We have to strike a balance and not be completely definitive because otherwise we run the risk of not going through the process according to good regulatory practice. Where we are of the view that particular issues need to be addressed in a certain way we will put out a “minded to” position and will be clear.

The key issue in respect of water quality is people’s ability to consume the water. There should be a reduction in the charge where it is not drinkable. We have said that the minimum level for that is 50%. We are now looking to consult on whether there should be circumstances in which it should be higher than 50%, perhaps even 100% where it has been undrinkable for a prolonged period. We do not want to be definitive about that. We want to put it out to public consultation.

It would be very unwise of the CER to offer a view of what medical conditions would warrant a cap on water charges. We are not medical experts. It is covered in the ministerial direction that the Department of Health has that expertise and will advise on the medical conditions.