Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Deputy Tom Hayes, to the House. I call on Senator Mary Moran to move her motion.

Mary Moran (Labour)
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I welcome Deputy Hayes and thank him for taking this matter on the Adjournment, regarding the case of an elderly lady who is living full time in a nursing home. I have been contacted by her son, who reports that his mother has been billed for €125 for water and wastewater services for the year in her family home. She does not live there and nor does anybody else, so the house is vacant.

After speaking with this lady's family member, I immediately contacted Irish Water for the details of the rules and regulations for a vacant house. Irish Water informed me that the owner of a vacant domestic property is liable for a minimum annual charge, irrespective of consumption or occupancy circumstances. This minimum charge amounts to €62.50 per annum per service provided, so that is where it came up with the figure of €125. My point is that if the lady were living at home, she had the household package, which she lost when she went into the nursing home. She would then, in effect, probably be liable for about €75 when all the allowances are taken into consideration. By living out of the house and not using any water, she is being charged €50 more. Before entering the nursing home to live full time due to her illness, she would have received the household package, which would have entitled her to pay less.

I find the whole issue very strange.

Nobody is living in the house and, therefore, a minimal volume of water is used. However, she is being charged for more than that. I am sure many others are in a similar position to this lady or they have family members who are in this position. In total, 80% of her pension is going to the nursing home while 22.5% of the value of her house is going to the State. Therefore, she is left with 20% of her pension. Those who reside in nursing homes are being seriously penalised. I have raised this in order that something can be done and specific cases examined. It is one thing if somebody has a second home and uses it some of the time as a holiday home but this house is vacant and the only time water is used, as reported by the lady's son to me, is when the heat comes for an hour a day to keep the house damp free.

Another query I received relates to the use of PPS numbers and how long they will be kept on file by Irish Water. Could the Minister of State give a response to that? Irish Water is a semi-State body. Is there is a data protection issue if PPS numbers are retained indefinitely? I would be grateful if the Minister of State and Irish Water outlined the IT precautions being taken to ensure data protection is not breached. It is highly unusual for semi-State utility companies to retain PPS numbers indefinitely. We need clear assurances from Irish Water that people's personal details are safe and protected as well as an explanation for the need to retain these details indefinitely.

I welcome the water services support payment of €100 annually, which will be paid quarterly to individuals in receipt of the household benefits package, but a person who no longer resides in the family home for health reasons and, therefore, does not use water or wastewater services and who must pay 80% of her pension to the nursing home for her care and 22.5% of the value of her house to the State under the fair deal scheme, should only be liable for a minimal charge, which could be attributed to leakages.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I apologise on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, who is unavailable to respond to this issue, which will lead to further discussions.
The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water is responsible for public water services and can collect charges from customers in receipt of water services provided by it. The Act 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, which was submitted to the CER in line with the provisions of the Act. The commission recently held a public consultation on this plan which covered a range of issues relating to water charges and allowances. On 30 September 2014, the commission issued a determination on the water charges plan.
In making its determination on the water charges plan, the commission had to take account of the decisions made by the Government on the funding model for Irish Water and a ministerial direction made under section 42 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 in July 2014. This policy direction addressed a number of matters relating to domestic water charges, including the provision of a free allowance of 30,000 litres of water supplied and wastewater treated per annum for a primary residence on a public supply and a free allowance to cover the normal usage of water services by every child in their primary residence, while customers with specific medical conditions that require increased water consumption will have their charges capped.
In its determination on the water charges plan, the CER has approved charges to be levied by Irish Water. These charges outline how much a customer will pay for the water service his or her household receives, how unmetered customers will be billed by way of an assessed charge, the rates to be charged for households with a meter installed, and a minimum water charge which will apply to non-primary residences. The owner of the premises will be required to pay a minimum charge for water supply and for wastewater per service for a domestic property that is not permanently occupied.
The commission also decided, in its determination, to make a number of changes to the water charges plan submitted by Irish Water. These included the capping of the total water charges for all customers at the unmetered "assessed charge" for nine months. The cap will apply from the start date of the next billing period after installation of the meter or 1 October 2014, whichever is the later. With regard to the annual minimum charge for a combined water supply and wastewater service at a non-primary residence, the CER have reduced these charges from €160 to €125 per annum or €62.50 per service per annum. In addition, the Government has agreed to put in place further affordability measures to assist pensioners, persons with disabilities, and carers who receive the household benefits package. The conditions and administrative approach to this additional measure are being developed by the Department of Social Protection. Further measures were also announced earlier as part of budget 2015.
The establishment of the CER as the independent economic regulator for Irish Water is a clear demonstration of the Government's commitment to ensure the interests of customers are well represented. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water is required to prepare codes of practice on a range of matters related to the protection of the customer, including standards relating to the performance by Irish Water of its functions; the provision of information to customers of Irish Water for the purposes of enabling customers to communicate with Irish Water; and billing by Irish Water of persons in respect of water services provided. These codes of practice are now published and available on Irish Water's website www.water.ie.
The Senator raised the case of a person who does not use water at her residence because she resides in a nursing home. I will convey this to the Minister and I will ask him to communicate with Irish Water because the Senator has made a strong case. However, as somebody who has had a meter on his home for the past 20 years, there are few instances of houses in which water is not used. Somebody will have access to the house. If no drop of water is used from one end of the year to the other, Irish Water should examine such cases but they are few and far between. I was a member of a local authority in County Tipperary. Water charges were in place for many years and people paid them. I rarely came across a case where no water passed through the meter. However, I will bring the Senator's contribution to the attention of the Minister.
With regard to the PPS numbers, my understanding is Irish Water needs them to apply the allowances. If it does not have the numbers, it cannot process the allowances. There is a great deal of fear and the communications relating to Irish Water raises many questions. However, as somebody who uses a meter, we have to conserve water. The greatest fear people have relates to the volume of water they use. If one conserves water and the pipes that serve one's home are not leaking, the water bill will be low. Much of the fear relates to leaks and using large volumes of water. There are few leaks in urban Ireland, in particular. One will recognise a leak quickly where water is gathering on the lawn or is coming through the floors in the house. In rural Ireland, leaks could happen under a ditch on a farm or under a road and it is often difficult to detect them.
The Senator referred to a particular individual and there is a good case to be made. I will convey that to the Minister and ask him to address it.

Mary Moran (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I would appreciate if he would bring it back because I know the house and the person involved and can assure him it is a most genuine case. I take his point that there might be few cases where this occurs but it does happen and I have no doubt this is not the only case. If this woman was at home with her allowances she would be charged less than she is being charged now, which is ridiculous. I would like something to be done for people in these circumstances.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I give the Senator a commitment that I will communicate further on this.

Mary Moran (Labour)
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I am not questioning the need to give the PPS number and the man who came to me with a query has no problem about giving his PPS number but he wants to know how long Irish Water will hold his details.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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It will hold them for as long as the person is given the allowance, which is every year when it calculates how much free water one has. I imagine that is the case. I do not know for certain but I would say it has to keep the number on file.