Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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This is a day of shame for the Government and a day of fear, anxiety and outrage for hundreds of thousands of families who, for the first time in the history of the State, will be charged to access the basic human right to water, on top of all of the stealth charges and taxes that have been loaded on the people to the point where many are utterly crippled financially. The anger and outrage felt are manifest in mass meetings and protests the length and breadth of the country and we are likely to see tens of thousands on the streets before the upcoming budget is announced, demanding that the Government abolish these hateful charges.

If all of that is not bad enough, to add insult to injury, Irish Water, in its efforts to force people to pay this unjust and regressive tax, is also asking for PPS numbers and personal information and data on all households in the State. This has raised very serious issues and legitimate fears about the protection of personal data and what Irish Water may do with them. Let us be clear: under the legislation, Irish Water has been designated to be a private company. Therefore, people are being asked to provide PPS numbers and personal information for a private company. Interestingly, the Irish Water website has been changed in the past few days to cover up its initial policy, but it still states the information will be used for marketing purposes, shared with agents or third parties, can be transferred and processed by staff operating outside the European economic area and Irish Water suppliers. By agreeing to submit the information, people are consenting to all of the above and the use of this detailed and sensitive personal information in these ways by a private company, its suppliers and others with whom it works.

The ESB does not ask for or require PPS numbers and, until now, Bord Gáis did not ask for them. Why is Irish Water seeking this personal and sensitive information, about which the Data Protection Commissioner said people should be careful? Specialists and consultants in the area have described the manner in which Irish Water is seeking the information as unsupportable approaches for information. The Data Protection Commissioner has said clarification is needed. This is a serious issue about sensitive, personal information being handed over to a private company that is linking the demand for the information with allowances and charges and what people may pay. This leads many to believe they have no choice but to hand over the information. How can the Minister of State stand over and justify this? What reassurance can he give that the information will not be handed over to other bodies and parties that may abuse personal information that is the property of citizens?

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, in respect of which I am happy to clarify the position on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly.

Under the Water Services Acts 2007 to 2013, Irish Water may request its customers and certain specified persons or bodies, including the Minister for Social Protection, to provide it with information in order that the company can perform its functions under the Acts. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water is responsible for public water services and can collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. It also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, which has been given statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of customers of Irish Water.

The proposed approach to charging was outlined by Irish Water in a water charges plan that it submitted to the CER in line with the provisions of the Act. The CER recently held a public consultation process on this plan, which covered a range of issues relating to water charges and allowances. Yesterday the CER issued a determination on the water charges plan, details of which are available on its website. With charges effective from today, 1 October 2014, Irish Water is in the process of compiling the relevant data to ensure customers can be billed accurately based on the tariff structure approved yesterday by the CER.

Throughout September, Irish Water sent application packs to nearly 2 million households which refer to the effective charging date and the fact that billing for domestic customers in receipt of public water services will start in January 2015. Irish Water is in the final stages of issuing these packs. The application process will enable customers to confirm their details and to ensure that a correct and up-to-date database of customers exists. The pack is accompanied by a guide explaining why each piece of information is required. A media campaign has also been launched to emphasise the need to complete the application process by 31 October 2014.

On 6 May 2014, the Government made certain decisions relating to the structure of water charges including,inter alia, a free allowance per household and an additional free allowance for children on the same qualifying conditions as the child benefit payment from the Department of Social Protection. As these allowances are to be funded by Government, Irish Water needs to ensure it has the appropriate and sufficient information to reflect these entitlements. The personal public services, PPS, numbers will be used by Irish Water to validate that customers are entitled to any relevant water allowances. It is important to stress that the PPS information will only be shared with the Department of Social Protection and solely for this verification purpose. This will ensure that each household receives the free allowance to which it is entitled as well as any additional allowance for children in receipt of child benefit at that address. It will also facilitate Irish Water in providing reduced charges to owners who have unoccupied dwellings. Households who do not provide PPS numbers to establish eligibility will be billed a default charge which the CER has set. In the case of late validation, any relevant allowances will be backdated 60 days prior to the date of registration.

Irish Water is a specified body under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, as amended by section 20 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2014 and is therefore permitted to request PPS numbers to authenticate the identity of the person being provided with an allowance. Irish Water will treat applicants' personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003. In complying with these Acts, Irish Water must ensure that the data is only used for the purpose for which it was collected and must also ensure that any data collected is stored securely. Irish Water has confirmed that no data will be stored outside of the European Economic Area, and Irish Water will not be selling or trading any customer data. There may be limited instances where Irish Water might need to share information with third parties with whom it has service agreements for operational reasons, for example, instances where ICT support for systems maintenance is required, and this will be done under full compliance with all data protection requirements.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is absolutely hateful and obscene that the Minister will from today charge people for the basic human right to access water which people need to live. As if this is not bad enough, to then demand with menaces PPS numbers and other sensitive personal information is really an outrage and the Minister of State's reassurances do not convince me.

The Minister of State says that Irish Water has given assurances that it will not send this information outside the European Economic Area. I invite him to look at Irish Water's website which states:

[T]he data relating to the customer may be used for marketing purposes. Irish Water may share the customer's data with agents or third parties who act on behalf of Irish Water in connection with the activities referred to above, [which is marketing]....Data we collect ...may be transferred to a destination outside the European Economic Area ("EEA")....It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA....By submitting data to Irish Water, the customer agrees to this transfer or processing.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Given that domestic water charging commenced today, 1 October, Irish Water requires a comprehensive customer database to be in place to ensure that customers can be billed accurately, based on the tariff structure approved by the regulator yesterday. In advance of the introduction of the charges, the Government made decisions relating to the structure of water charges and agreed to provide a free allowance per household and an additional free allowance for children, based on the same qualifying conditions as the child benefit payment from the Department of Social Protection.

The collection of the PPS numbers allows Irish Water to confirm and validate those same entitlements to allowances for each customer. This is the significant point. I am concerned that it is reported that Opposition Deputies, possibly including Deputy Boyd Barrett, are advising people not to register nor to claim their entitlements and allowances. I am aware that some Deputies were holding public meetings about the local property tax and advising people not to pay the property tax and these people were subsequently subject to liabilities and penalties. Those very same Deputies said at public meetings that they would see to it-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Government was imposing those penalties.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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-----that they would not have to pay those charges. That is folly and it is unfair to the public they were advising. We need to be straight with people and advise them correctly, in line with the law of the land. Those people were quickly deserted and left with penalties and fines. I do not want to see that happening again with regard to water charges.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is the Government members who are imposing penalties and putting their mates on the board.