Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Caoláin for raising this issue and giving me a chance to bring some clarity to it. This process will affect his county and my county in the first instance. As it is rolled out, it will affect other counties as well. Irish Water has been responsible for public water services with effect from 1 January 2014. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water shall collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. Accordingly, the collection of water charges is now the statutory responsibility of Irish Water. Local authorities continue to bill for non-domestic water services as agents of Irish Water under service level agreements. Irish Water has recently begun the migration of account administration for non-domestic services on a phased basis from local authorities to its internal customer systems. Counties Meath and Monaghan are the first to migrate, with all others to follow on a phased basis.

The Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016, which is currently before the Oireachtas, has been drawn up to legislate for water elements of the confidence and supply arrangement that was agreed with Fianna Fáil in the context of its decision to support a minority Government. It is clear from the arrangement document that Irish Water will be retained as a single national utility in public ownership for the delivery of water and wastewater services. It is very clear that Irish Water is here to stay. The Bill before the Oireachtas provides for a straightforward suspension of domestic water charges.

There is no question over how public water and wastewater services are to be delivered into the future. The approach is accepted and Irish Water will remain our national water utility. The Bill before the Oireachtas simply provides for the necessary space to allow an informed, balanced and rational debate on the funding of domestic water services to be undertaken, which is respectful of all positions. It does not have a predetermined outcome. The expert commission is there to examine international best practice and to advise members of a committee of this House on what is the best way to approach the delivery of water services and the costs involved in that. The Bill does not provide for any changes to the current water charging regime for non-domestic customers. Since 2001 national water pricing policy has required local authorities to recover the costs of providing water services from all non-domestic users of those services. This policy provided for charges based on actual metered consumption and is consistent with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. Local authorities currently bill non-domestic customers on behalf of Irish Water and charges recovery rates are low.

Currently, there is variance across the country in how non-domestic customers are billed, both in tariff type and level of tariff. There are 44 tariff structures, with more than 500 tariff points in place for non-domestic water and wastewater services. The harmonisation of non-domestic tariffs should lead to greater certainty and simplicity for businesses and other non-domestic customers about the structure and level of charges. This will also help to make our economy more competitive. Harmonising tariffs should also ensure that businesses pay their fair share of the costs of providing water services in a fair manner across the country, not based necessarily on their address. However, it is a complex issue which requires considerable analysis and consultation. The Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, the economic regulator of Irish Water, will commence a public consultation on this matter in due course.

As I stated earlier, local authorities have continued to bill non-domestic customers for water services as agents of Irish Water under service level agreements. Irish Water is now commencing the process of migrating the responsibility for account administration for existing business customers from local authorities to the utility. This was always envisaged under the implementation strategy for reform of the water sector and having regard to Irish Water's statutory responsibility. Irish Water has engaged with relevant stakeholders and business representatives groups in advance of the migration and will continue to do so as the nationwide roll-out progresses. I also wish to reiterate that the draft legislation currently before the Oireachtas provides for a straightforward suspension of domestic water charges to allow time and space for informed discussion and deliberation on the future funding of domestic water services only. There is no question over the position of Irish Water as the national water utility, nor does the Bill propose any changes to the system of non-domestic water charging and billing.

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