Results 6,781-6,800 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Following the debate on Second Stage, I sought reassurances - through my Department - that regional communicators have been appointed by Irish Water. Part of the task of those individuals is to contact all elected members in each area. Councillors will be able to communicate directly and discuss matters with these people at all times because they will know their names and telephone numbers....

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: These amendments are necessary in order to provide that any rights in addition to liability shall be transferred to Irish Water following the making of an order by the Minister. Accordingly, the order made under section 14 will provide for the transfer of rights and liabilities from local authorities to Irish Water. For example, contracts transferring to Irish Water would include both...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Will the Senator explain?

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I will answer the questions to the best of my ability. On security of tenure, local authority employees are permanent staff. Transfers of local authority employees to Irish Water under a service level agreement will take place by agreement, in other words, the employees will continue to be employed by the local authority. However, they may also opt to transfer to Irish Water as employees...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: There is quite a spectrum of views on the issue. I can understand where different political parties are coming from and I will leave it at that, rather than go through the usual points I might make. The reality is that our water services cost €1.2 billion annually. Therefore, it costs €1.2 billion to supply water to every house and business in the country. Some €200...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: It will have to be in the plan. If I say I am against the imposition of standing charges, that is fine and that would be a popular thing to say. It would make for a great story, but the fact is that even if I do not use water I still have to pay the standing charge because it goes towards covering the cost of the other services that are provided to my meter. On Senator Healy Eames's...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: No, with respect to a Member of the other House-----

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: -----I was writing his manifesto for him. Water charges are a fact of life everywhere. They help reduce costs. They reduce the level of capital infrastructure, because less water is used, and ensure money is available to pay for the cost of the infrastructure. We cannot be left in the situation we were in when the troika came into the country and we had no money to pay for anything. The...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: No; I am not making it up. We will be repeating that in about two years' time.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: The information was discovered during my research.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: A split in what?

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I will do my best to answer the question.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I wish to make a few important points by way of clarification. I welcome the comments made by all Senators. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has said the first fix is free. In other words, if there is a leak on the customer’s side, it will be fixed for free. On the question posed by Senator Sean D. Barrett, the problem is that the leak is not necessarily in one’s house, it might...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: The standing charge associated with the water meter is for all of the services in the water system until the water reaches the consumer's door. The consumer pays for the water that goes through the meter and into the house so the standing charge will pay for everything outside of the home and for the meter itself. That is quite normal.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I never said that.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I will hold Senator Healy Eames to her word.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I am not the Minister for Finance, but it is important to point out that we are still in a troika programme. While we are about to exit that programme, we still have significant cuts to public expenditure to make. What we are doing here is making sure we have an adequate water supply into the future. The money people pay for their water will go to Irish Water and not to the Government. I...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: -----plus a standing charge of €250 is not on. I would not even do that to someone who lives in Cavan. I will say no more because Cavan is a fine county. Let us get real about this.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: It is a bill. When a person pays an electricity bill or telephone bill, there will be a standing charge, so there is nothing new about this.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Many local authorities already have agreements in place with individual customers for the provision of water and waste water. These agreements have been critically important in facilitating economic investment and the creation of significant employment throughout the country. This amendment is intended to provide Irish Water with the power to enter into similar agreements with individual...