Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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211. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the registration process for Irish Water; his plans to simplify this process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39597/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Under the Water Services Acts 2007-2013, Irish Water may request its customers and certain specified persons or bodies, including the Minister for Social Protection, to provide it with information so that it can perform its functions under these Acts. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water is responsible for public water services and that it shall collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. The Act also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation, the CER, which has been given statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of customers of Irish Water.

Over the last number of weeks, Irish Water has been sending application packs to approximately 2 million households, which refer to the effective charging date and the fact that billing for domestic customers in receipt of public water services will start in January 2015. The administration and operation of this application process is an operational matter for Irish Water.

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.