Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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176. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if Irish Water will charge €188 for a call-out to fix a water leak, if it will charge €282 for the first hour and €141 for subsequent hours for out of hours call-outs to rectify problems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40810/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for public water services. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water can 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 (CER) and the CER has been given statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of customers. The CER has now issued a determination on the water charges plan submitted to it by Irish Water. Full details and associated documentation are available on the CER website at .

In its determination , t he CER states that it has set out a requirement for Irish Water to provide further evidence to the CER for review prior to consultation and approval of charges for additional services such as a site inspection where a blockage or leak is suspected. The CER is currently reviewing this information and will publish a separate consultation on additional charges. In the interim , the CER has proposed that the charges set out by Irish Water in the water charges plan will apply until the consultation on additional charges has concluded and a final decision has been made. Further to that decision, Irish Water will be required to provide a rebate where the charge to the customer is lower than the charge currently cited in the Water Charges Plan.

These charges mainly relate to issues on the part of the network which is a customer’s responsibility and would only arise if the customer chooses to request the service from Irish Water rather than engaging their own builder/plumber. These charges are not , therefore , mandatory.