Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I stated in my reply, there is effectively no change in the funding arrangement for 2014. There will be an allocation of €27.7 million for local authorities under the developed scheme in terms of the rural water programme. That will continue with local authorities in terms of block grants for the purposes of group scheme, water and sewerage and some small public water and wastewater schemes. We spent €15 million on small public water and wastewater schemes this year, and responsibility for that will now move to Irish water. Therefore, the same amount of money is effectively in the system only it is coming in to it through different ways. Irish Water will have a service level agreement with local authorities, as the Deputy will be aware, and that will provide for some of the funding that we would have had for that this year under the small public water and wastewater schemes. The local authorities will continue to fund the group water schemes, the private ones, in the way that has been done previously.

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