Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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234. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a full breakdown of all expenditure incurred by his Department on consultancy, legal fees and other costs connected with Irish Water prior to, during and since the establishment of Irish Water. [34919/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Expenditure incurred by my Department relating to the Water Sector Reform Programme amounted to €15.7 million to the end of 2013. The majority of this expenditure related to the domestic metering programme (€7.7 million) and the local authority staffing costs of the Water Services Transition Office (€5.7 million), which was put in place to ensure appropriate arrangements for engagement with the local authority sector during the reform process. Internal Departmental costs, which included the staffing of the Water Sector reform Project Management Office in my Department, amounted to some €1.3 million in 2013.

The balance of the costs incurred to the end of 2013 includes €179,584 paid to Price Waterhouse Coopers in respect of the initial report on water sector reform, €0.76 million paid to the Commission for Energy Regulation in respect of their expanded functions in becoming the independent economic regulator for the public water sector and €55,000 paid to the Economic & Social Research Institute in respect of providing research and advice on affordability issues associated with the introduction of domestic water charges.

It is estimated that some €2 million will be spent on my Department’s water sector reform programme management and the Water Services Transition Office during 2014. It is also expected that some €5 million will be recouped to local authorities in connection with road-opening licence work associated with the national domestic metering programme.