Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 415: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the local authorities which have a metering service in place for non-domestic water charges; the local authorities that plan to introduce them; the charges in place or proposed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21800/06]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 416: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if a directive has been set by his Department for local authorities with regard to non-domestic water charges, standing water charges and charges for the installation, maintenance and reading of water meters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21801/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 415 and 416 together.

The Government's water pricing policy framework requires the full recovery of water services costs from the non domestic sector based on metered use. Sanitary authorities have for many years metered non-domestic use to a varying extent with some 78,000 customers metered at the end of 2005. Authorities are currently advancing implementation of their metering programme and I expect that the non-domestic sector will be substantially metered by the end of 2006.

My Department has provided guidance to sanitary authorities in order to assist water pricing policy implementation including non-domestic metering. In this regard, guidance notes on metering were issued in August 2004 which set out general principles and processes for the advancement of non-domestic metering. It is however a matter for each sanitary authority to set the appropriate level of charges for non-domestic users of water services subject to the policy of full recovery of actual costs.