Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This issue has been raised with me by the members of various local authorities. We might clarify the situation, as even at this stage with the hand-over imminent there appears to be significant confusion at that level about capital funding.

My understanding is that certain local authorities are charging for commercial water usage through water rates and development levies, whereas their capital funding for the domestic sector is provided by the Exchequer. The Minister of State indicated that service level agreements generally last for 12 years and that he would table amendments on the matter tomorrow. In some cases, however, there could be agreement on making hand-overs sooner. As such, what will be the practical effect on capital investment? How and when will the hand-over of the budget for capital investment in commercial and domestic projects be managed in, for example, County Galway? The situation is unclear. We know that there will be a 12-year service level agreement, possibly from January onwards, but how will this affect projects that are already in train? Having spoken with the directors of services in certain local authorities, I understand that there has been little discussion of this topic and that there is significant confusion about when Uisce Éireann will take over vis-à-vis service level agreements from local authorities.