Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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1492. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government whether Irish Water may install water meters on a private road. [33162/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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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 company the necessary powers to allow it to undertake the metering programme.

Most meters for public utilities are located at the point where the connection enters the household. In the case of water services, under the provisions of the Water Services Act 2007, households’ pipes internal to the boundary of a property are considered the responsibility of the householder, and thus water meters are being fitted at the stopcock at the boundary of the property. As this is located on publicly accessible land, it minimises disruption during the installation programme and also in terms of meter reading in due course as access is not required to private property. Where it is not possible to locate the stopcock on publicly accessible land, Irish Water will not install a meter on private property without the householder’s permission.