Results 6,241-6,260 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: There have been extensive consultations between the Departments of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and Public Expenditure and Reform. The objective of this section is to ensure the full economic interest in Irish Water remains in the State and, as such, the shares are invested in the Ministers for Finance and the Environment,...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I thank the Deputies for their comments. The Deputies are expressing concerns which many people have. However, the Bill is to amend existing legislation, which contains a definitive, authoritative statement that no water infrastructure can be owned privately. We are amending that Act. It is not appropriate at this stage to include this as an issue because it is already in the Act. There...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: The regulator, the CER, will have to examine all the plans of Irish Water, which will have the collective wisdom of all the local authorities and their disparate proposals. All these will have to go to Irish Water and be examined. It will have to consider a capital programme, as Deputy Cowen rightly pointed out, and add to it what needs to be done in five or ten years or whatever. All of...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: This legislation serves to give Irish Water the power to be incorporated as a company and to do the work of metering. All the other issues raised are important and one of those issues is in the Bill. There will be an annual report laid before the Oireachtas and it will be a matter for debate here. I agree with the points made on how significant water policy is and will continue to be. I...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Approximately €200 million will come from commercial water rates.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Bord Gáis is under the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. I will ask that Department to issue a reply to Deputy Cowen's question on the sale of parts of the company. The plan for the future of water and the water services investment programme, which is available to the Oireachtas as a document, sets out the future needs so we can compute a costed programme....

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: There are number of issues to be addressed, but I will deal first with the issue raised by Deputy Stanley. He is quite right that the solution to the appalling waste of resources, with 42% of water wasted, is to deal with that. The best way to deal with it is to improve the mains network where possible. On the customer side, we must also ensure there are no leaks between the mains and the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Deputy Murphy is right when she suggests that an SME is being defined as a company with a turnover of up to €400,000. That is the category into which one of these companies must fit. The whole idea is to make sure of the quality of workmanship actually done by the company that will be doing it. We want to ensure they are not cowboys, they are competent, they have a track record and...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: It would be inappropriate to release an estimate of the cost of the metering itself in advance of the competitive procurement process.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: No, but that is the most-----

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: No, that is the most the company will actually borrow.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: It does not mean it will all be spent on meters. There is a great deal of other work to be done as well, obviously.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I apologise. The cost-benefit analysis will be published after the event.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I will try to make the point more clearly. We know that the current cost of water services is €1.2 billion. We know what the water service investment programme is for the future. We know what the costs are going to be.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: The WSIP is a published document.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I do not have the figure with me, but I am sure I can get it.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: The figure is there.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: It is a transparent published document.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: There will be total clarity on all of that.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Bill 2013: Committee Stage (27 Feb 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: If it is helpful, Irish Water has not been set up. At the moment, Bord Gáis is doing that work. When the company is incorporated as a company, Irish Water will be set up. I repeat, for the purposes of clarity, that all of the costs relating to the charging of consumers will be transparent and will be known. The procurement process for the metering is like the procurement process for...