Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Keohane to the meeting and thank him for attending. I wish him the best of luck in his role in the future which will be challenging. I wish to address two issues that are not controversial. One issue pertains to commercial water. When does Mr. Keohane see Irish Water taking over the billing process? There are multiple rates for commercial water throughout the State based on county boundaries and local authority areas. Does Mr. Keohane see this as becoming one charge throughout the State or county-wide charges remaining as they are? There is a significant difference between water rates in Dublin city with the cheapest water rates in the State and Wicklow, which has the highest water rates in the State. There will probably need to be a harmonisation process.

The second issue concerns the contributions for the connection of, or provision of, services for new builds. We talk of rebuilding Ireland and the construction costs per housing unit. Where does Mr. Keohane see the contributions figure? Will it be a national figure? I believe it is currently based on the county councils' development contribution schemes, inherited by Ervia. Does the witness see the contributions model staying that way or does he see a national figure emerging?

At council level we received some presentations from Irish Water.

It used to be said there was a ten-year payback horizon on any capital investment. Coming from a rural part of Ireland, I have concerns in regard to our small towns and villages where investment with a repayment horizon of ten years will never be repaid. We need to look at a 20-year or 30-year horizon. Most small rural towns have no capacity at the moment and are way down the line in regard to capital infrastructure investment. I wish Mr. Keohane the best of luck.