Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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121. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department commissioned a study on the technical aspects governing metering of multi-unit developments for Irish Water; if he will publish this report or provide a copy of it to this Deputy; the person from whom the report was commissioned; the amount it cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4382/14]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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132. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 451 of 22 January 2014, if he will address the specific questions raised; namely, if his Department will provide a projected timeline for the installation of water meters to the 300,000 homes that have not been included in the initial roll-out of metering; if it is the intention of Irish Water and his Department that these homes will be installed with meters in the foreseeable future; if two homes sharing a single connection will be treated any differently to an apartment block; and the reason this supply cannot be split as part of the meter installation programme; if he will provide an update on the deliberations of the Commission for Energy Regulation regarding charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4498/14]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 121 and 132 together.

The Programme for Government sets out a commitment to the introduction of water charges based on usage above a free allowance The Government considers that charging based on usage is the fairest way to charge for water and it has therefore decided that water meters should be installed in households connected to public water supplies. The Water Services Act 2013 provides for the establishment of Irish Water as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group and assigns the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake th e metering programme. The installation programme commenced in August 2013 and will be implemented nationally as quickly as possible.

Up to 300,000 households may not be metered in the initial metering programme due to either the high cost or the technical difficulty of doing so. As the Government’s objective is to ensure as many households as possible are metered, my Department provided funding of €570,000 in 2013 to fund the cost of a study by Irish Water on possible approaches to metering properties that will not be included in the current metering programme, including apartments and properties with shared service connections. The study involved the following: desktop studies of data on the properties to be covered in the phase 2 programme including the age, configuration and distribution of the properties; field surveys; pilot studies to investigate design solutions and technological solutions; and sample meter installations in apartment blocks to validate design solutions.

This study has very recently been submitted to my Department for consideration and, as such, any proposals for the metering of these properties would need to be considered by the Government in the first instance. The report will be published as soon as possible following its consideration. The Water Services Acts 2013 provide that the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) will be responsible for the independent economic regulation of Irish Water.  In particular, the CER will be responsible for approving the water charges plans prepared by Irish Water, and for approving codes of practice to be prepared by Irish Water. The primary role of the Regulator will be to protect the interests of customers and to ensure a consistent and appropriate level of service is provided to them.  In discharging its functions, the CER proposes to undertake a public consultation on the approach to the design of domestic water tariffs during 2014. This will include the approach to charges for both metered and unmetered properties.