Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 5, line 8, after “1996;” to insert the following:

“to amend the Water Services Act 2007, the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 and the Water Services Act 2014;”.

Amendment No. 4 is a technical amendment to amend the Long Title of the Bill to reflect the proposed amendments to the Water Services Act 2007, the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 and the Water Services Act 2014. Amendment No. 5 is also a technical amendment to provide for the collective citation of the proposed Part 8 of this Bill and the Water Services Acts 2007 to 2014.

Amendment No. 21 amends the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 by inserting a new provision, section 23A, into the 2013 Act. This section introduces a legal requirement on the owner of a dwelling either to register with Irish Water as the customer or to notify Irish Water that they are not the occupier of the dwelling. Where the owner is not the occupier of the dwelling, the owner shall be required to notify Irish Water of the name of each person with whom they have an agreement to occupy the dwelling and the date of commencement of any agreement. This provision would not apply where the customer details have already been provided to Irish Water before the proposed legislation comes into effect. This would mean there will be no additional requirements for customers who have already registered with Irish Water as part of its customer registration campaign.

This is an important provision to ensure that Irish Water is made aware of the person responsible for the payment of water charges in accordance with the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013. The section provides that where the owner of a dwelling does not provide the necessary information to Irish Water within 20 days of the legislation coming into operation, or within 20 days following any change of occupation, then the owner shall be liable for any charges payable to Irish Water until such time as they provide Irish Water with the necessary information. The provision of false information to Irish Water shall be an offence.

The section also provides that any agreement to occupy a dwelling which commences after the provisions come into effect, unless it expressly provides otherwise, shall be deemed to include a provision that the occupier is liable for any charges to Irish Water. Any tenant whose tenancy is covered by the Residential Tenancies Act will be responsible for the payment of water charges. This is in line with the principle that the user pays, as defined in the Water Services Acts, and will ensure that tenants are eligible for the water conservation grant.

Amendment No. 25 is a technical amendment. It provides for the amendment of sections 9 and 10 of the Water Services Act 2007, relating to the prosecution of offences, to take account of the offence provisions introduced by amendment No. 21, which deals with the requirement to register with Irish Water.

Finally, I would like to address Deputy Ó Cuív's amendment No. 11 to Government amendment No. 21. Deputy Ó Cuív's amendment proposes that the provisions outlined in the proposed section 23A be subject to review by the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, in regard to its impact on tenancy termination.

It is important to note that this section does not put a new obligation on tenants. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 defines the customer as the "occupier" of the property. As such, the tenant is already liable for the charges. It is a standard term and practice in residential leases that tenants should pay their utility bills, which would include water bills. Accordingly, there is no basis to predict that a landlord would seek to evict tenants for not paying their water bill over and above the non-payment of any other bill. In any event, tenants continue to have the same rights and protections under the PRTB process provided for in the Residential Tenancies Act, which must be gone through prior to any evictions. It should noted that evictions are generally sought where there is non-payment of rent or anti-social behaviour.

I do not see the Government's amendment having in any way, shape or form any adverse impact on the number of evictions sought. Accordingly, I will not be accepting the Deputy's amendment.

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