Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 139: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the position regarding the opt out from domestic water charges by Ireland in relation to the European Union legislation on water charging; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35806/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Government's Water Pricing Policy, adopted in 1998, requires local authorities to recover the cost of providing water services from the users of these services, with the exception of households using the services for domestic purposes. Accordingly, when the Water Framework Directive was adopted in 2000, the established practice in Ireland was to exclude domestic users from water charges. The renewed Programme for Government includes a commitment to introduce charging for treated water use on a basis that is fair, significantly reduces waste and is easily applied. The system will be designed to allocate a free basic allowance to households, with charging only for water use in excess of the allowance.