Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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535. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the plans Irish Water has to ensure that tenants who do not register for the service will pay for the service; if landlords will be eligible to pay for the service if tenants fail to comply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37840/14]

Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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544. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government with regard to landlords who wish their tenants to register with Irish Water, the procedure which need to be followed further to notification from the landlord to the tenant; if the tenant refuses to register, if the landlord may inform Irish Water directly; if landlords will be exempt from charges or fines if a tenant refuses to register for water payment. [37968/14]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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566. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views regarding liability for payment of water charges (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38272/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 535, 544 and 566 together.

The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides Irish Water with the power to charge customers in respect of the services provided. The Act also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) and the CER has been given statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of customers. The Act defines the customer as the occupier of the premises in respect of which the water services are provided. It also provides, unless the contrary is proved, that the owner of a premises is also the occupier of the premises.

Irish Water is currently undertaking a customer verification exercise to obtain the details of customers in receipt of services from Irish Water. This process gives tenants the opportunity to apply and avail of their relevant allowances and this will continue until the deadline date for applications of 31 October 2014. After this date Irish Water has advised my Department that it intends to initiate a further campaign to allow landlords provide proof that their property is occupied by a tenant and that they are not the occupant. This will remove liability from the landlord in compliance with Section 21(5) of the Act. Irish Water has an ongoing engagement with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and will ensure compliance with data protection legislation.

The Act also requires that Irish Water prepare, for the approval of the CER, codes of practice on a range of matters, including standards in relation to the performance by Irish Water of its functions and billing by Irish Water of persons in respect of water services provided. The CER recently held a public consultation which covered a range of issues, including billing of non-registered households and a number of proposed payment options. The CER issued a determination on the water charges plan last week and details and associated documentation are available on the CER website ( ).In its determination, the CER has decided that all customers will have their total water charges capped at the unmetered “assessed charge” for 9 months. The cap will apply from the start date of the next billing period after installation of the meter or 1 October 2014, whichever is the later.

Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. They may be contacted via email at or by telephone on 1890 278 278.