Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to acknowledge the witnesses who have attended and who have been helpful to the committee, especially the members of the Public Water Forum. They are providing a valuable public service in terms of what they have outlined to the committee.

The public forum is required to advocate on behalf of consumers and I am sure that technical assistance sometimes is required. How can the forum access such technical assistance? Is that resource available to the forum? When one is dealing with the likes of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Irish Water or the Department of Health, one must have technical resources available to one.

My second question relates to public engagement as it relates to both the public forum and Irish Water itself. Public engagement should be about building trust and transparency and ensuring that the reputation of the national utility is intact. Obviously, some damage was done to that reputation in the past. Where infrastructural improvements are made to our public water system, for example, through a lead pipe replacement programme in a town or village or where pollution or leakage issues are resolved, is that reported back to the forum and to the public? That should be done if we want to build trust and improve the reputation of Irish Water. A lot of very good work is being done by Irish Water. It is making a lot of good investments and resolving a lot of problems that have been extant for years, particularly in terms of pollution and substandard infrastructure. Unfortunately, however, the message is not getting out about that. As I understand it, Irish Water now has a modern asset management system in place. Every pipe in the ground, water source, wastewater treatment plant and so on is now recorded, with a maintenance plan and schedule made out for each part. That information should be supplied to both the forum and the public. Is there a reporting mechanism in place in that regard?

I now wish to focus on the issue of a customer charter in Irish Water. I presume, as with any utility, that a customer charter is in place in Irish Water. How was that developed? Was there an input from the public forum? I understand that the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, has a role in terms of approving the charter but I ask the witnesses to confirm if that is the case. How does the charter compare with other well established utilities in Ireland in terms of performance indicators, compensation in the event of commitments not being met and so forth? How does the customer charter for Irish Water compare with the charters of other utilities?

The contact centre was mentioned and I have had very positive feedback regarding how Irish Water is now engaging with the public. There were teething problems in the beginning but I know from speaking to colleagues in the Oireachtas that there is now a very good two-way communication system available to Oireachtas Members when problems arise with regard to Irish Water. If Oireachtas Members are honest, they will acknowledge that.

The expert commission report which this committee is currently considering refers to normal usage and this is going to be one of the key points with which this committee must deal. The report suggests that normal usage of public water should be paid for by general taxation. I ask all the witnesses to outline whether they have had an opportunity to consider what "normal usage" might mean. If they have not, why not? Is this question something that they might consider into the future? This committee will have to take advice from the very witnesses in front of us on how to define "normal usage". That will be the crux of our work. I look forward to hearing the views of the witnesses on that issue.