Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 208: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the performance in each of the county councils and county boroughs in respect of the performance indicators, for example, costs per million cubic metres of water, percentage level of leakage, level of enforcement of planning control, percentage of recycling, litter fines issued per litter warden and the average time to re-let dwellings. [11511/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The report, Service Indicators in Local Authorities 2004, which was published by the local government management services board in July 2005, contains comprehensive information on local authority performance in 2004 across a wide range of activity programmes, including enforcement of planning control, recycling, enforcement of litter legislation and the average time to re-let local authority dwellings. The report is available in the Oireachtas library. I expect to receive the 2005 report on service indicators from the local government management services board by end June 2006.

The cost of water services across the country ranged between €610,000 and €2.03 per cubic meter in 2004. The unit cost of water services provision differs between sanitary authorities given the differences in the costs of water production across each sanitary authority area and the economies of scale that apply. It is a matter for each sanitary authority to set the appropriate level of charges for non-domestic users of water services, subject to the water services pricing policy framework, which provides for the full recovery of actual costs, and water and waste water charges being determined having regard to this principle.

The National Water Study, which was published in 2000, involved an audit of individual public water supplies outside the greater Dublin area serving more than 5,000 people. The study examined all aspects of water supply, including availability of raw water, treatment capacity, water distribution systems and associated management issues, and found, inter alia, that unaccounted for water levels varied significantly between regions but were generally in the range of 40% to 50%. This data can be compared with the results from pilot water conservation projects that began prior to 2000 by a number of local authorities, for example, rates reduced from 42.5% to 28.7% in Dublin, in Donegal from 59% to 39%, in Meath from 47% to 34% and in Kilkenny from 45% to 29%. This resulted in significant ongoing cost savings.

All of the pilot projects were completed with the aid of capital funding of €63 million from my Department. Following a further allocation of €276 million by my Department in May 2003, local authorities are currently implementing a wider programme of water conservation projects that will identify and substantially reduce unaccounted for water in public supply networks.