Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. It is the occupier of a property that is liable to pay domestic water charges and legislation provides that the owner is the occupier unless the contrary is proven. Irish Water is providing landlords with the opportunity to prove that they are not the occupier by providing the tenant’s name. This will allow Irish Water to contact the tenant to complete the registration and bill him or her.

I do not understand why the Deputy cannot comprehend the following. We are in the process of ongoing consultations on this matter, but the Deputy wants me to stick my neck out and pick a date for when this will happen.

I would be subject to more criticism by the Deputy if I was not giving this level of detail. There are many options available to us, some of which the Deputy has outlined in his comments on Irish Water. While every aspect is being looked at, it is clear that what we put in place will not be punitive. There will be many options for people to pay their bills. There will be easy pay options for amounts as low as €5 and they will be able to go through all of the different options in using Payzone outlets, An Post and many other mechanisms.

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