Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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124. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding repairs to homes where water meters have been installed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6993/14]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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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 provided for the establishment of Irish Water as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group and assigned the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake the metering programme.

Irish Water has confirmed to my Department that it was always anticipated that in the course of installing meters, pre-existing leaks and other latent defects due to the age or condition of the water pipes would be discovered. It is not accurate to assume that these leaks are caused by Irish Water’s contractors. The meter installation programme gives Irish Water a strong starting point for mains rehabilitation by enabling the discovery of pre-existing leaks and helping to target more effective investment in leak repair.

In order to ensure that there was no delay to the metering project and that no Local Authority was financially disadvantaged by having to redeploy resources, my Department provided funding to contribute towards this expenditure incurred between the start of the metering programme and 31 December 2013. In 2014, the cost of these repairs is part of the operating costs of Irish Water.