Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government has decided that the CER will be the economic regulator. Accordingly, the CER will be the agency responsible for approving charges to be levied on customers and setting the standards of customer care to be delivered. The Bill provides the CER with powers of direction with regard to the standards to be applied by Irish Water, which will be elaborated on in codes of practice. A number of Senators have been criticising the regulator, which is a popular thing to do. I do not know if it is fair, however, because the regulator operates in a transparent way. It prepared a consultation document on Irish Water which sought to develop a fair and reliable water system that would not involve excessive charges. The document set out questions to which it requested replies by 29 November. The commission will reflect on the responses before it communicates its advice to the Government. This will be followed by another stage of consultation. The process is transparent, open and accountable and I believe it will work fairly.