Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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421. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the total Exchequer funding provided in respect of the establishment of Irish Water in each of the years 2012 to 2014, inclusive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3103/14]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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452. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the areas in which the anticipated €2 billion in savings by Irish Water by 2021 will be achieved. [2713/14]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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464. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he anticipates any further funding requirements for Irish Water beyond those which are budgeted for up to April 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2725/14]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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465. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he anticipates any future funding requirements from his Department for Irish Water beyond April 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2726/14]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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493. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the total planned capital investment in Irish Water from Exchequer funding in 2014 and beyond; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2943/14]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 421, 452, 464, 465 and 493 together.

No Exchequer funds were provided to Bord Gáis or Irish Water in 2012 or 2013 in relation to establishment costs. In 2014, Irish Water, which now has statutory responsibility for water services, will receive €240m in equity from the Minister for Finance and €490m from the Local Government Fund but no other funding from the Department’s Vote for establishment or other costs. Irish Water is currently preparing a Capital Investment Plan for 2014 – 2016 that will provide for the transition of projects previously included in my Department’s 2010 - 2013 Water Services Investment Programme.

My Departmental costs and Local Authority costs relating to the Water Sector Reform Programme have been met from the Departmental Vote. These costs amount to €15.7m in the period 2012 - 2013. The majority of this expenditure related to funding provided to local authorities to meet the costs of the pre-installation survey required as part of the domestic metering programme and the staffing costs of the Water Services Transition Office which was put in place to ensure appropriate arrangements for engagement with the local authority sector during the reform process.

The delivery of water services under a public utility model is expected to bring benefits in terms of access to new sources of revenue to fund greater investment in water services infrastructure and provide more efficient and better quality of service for customers. To date the majority of the costs of water services provision have been met by the Exchequer and local authorities from their own resources and general purpose grants , with some income from the commercial sector. The Irish Water funding model is expected to yield a potential saving of the order of €2 billion to the State. This is based on a comparison between the projected funding under such traditional arrangements to 2021 and the Irish Water funding model and reflects projections in relation to potential customer revenue, likely levels of State support, access to funding on capital markets, and efficiency gains. The Government has not yet decided on the budgetary provision for Irish Water for 2015 and beyond.