James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for tabling this important question. I will address some of the issues that have arisen. The Government decided in 2017 that water charges would not be levied on domestic customers and that the funding of domestic water services would instead be met through general taxation and paid through my Department's Vote. This position remains unchanged.

There is a provision for charging for excess use of domestic water services contained within the Water Services Act 2017. This provision is known as the household water conservation charge. It reflects the recommendations made in 2017 by the Joint Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services and the previous programme for Government commitment to implementing these recommendations. The rationale behind the household water conservation charge was to encourage water conservation. It was not intended as a revenue measure.

No further work is being done on this issue. This measure is not in the current programme for Government. as the Deputy rightly pointed out, and there are no plans to introduce it.

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