Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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239. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will confirm the existence of any or all recommendations internally or externally held in the Department prior to the establishment of Irish Water that stated the transfer of staff and the terms of employment of its staff and services should be at the discretion of the newly established company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42670/14]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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240. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will confirm when he or his Department officials became aware of the pay progression mechanism agreed between Ervia and trade unions last year for Irish Water; the date upon which this agreement was secured; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42671/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 239 and 240 together.

Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels.

A fundamental underpinning of the water reform programme is to ensure that the skills and experience built up over many years in local authorities are put to best use for the long-term benefit of the customer and that there is no negative impact on service to customers during the transition. The Water Services (No.2) Act 2013 transferred statutory responsibility for water services to Irish Water and provided for local authorities to act as agents for Irish Water, with this relationship being expressed through Service Level Agreements (SLA). The SLA approach reflects the transformation agenda required for the sector, with provision for annual service plans which will set out required performance, budgets and headcount. The length of the service level agreement and the fact that the agreement will include a programme of change are reflected in a Framework document, agreed with the Trade Unions under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, and which is available on my Department’s website,

Irish Water is currently recruiting to build up the internal capabilities required within the organisation and the number of staff employed is an operational matter for Irish Water. It was agreed by the Steering Group for the Water Sector Reform programme that, to ensure skills within the sector were fully availed of in building up the new organisation, competitions for positions in asset management, capital delivery and operations would be restricted to staff in the partner organisations i.e. Bord Gáis Éireann, local authorities and my Department in the first instance. Open competitions are held for all other positions and details of these are available on Irish Water’s website,

The employment terms and conditions for Irish Water staff are a matter for the company and I understand that the pay model is something which was inherited from the parent company Ervia and therefore was not directly put in place by Irish Water. Like other commercial semi-state bodies, pay models are negotiated between management and unions and are then subject to a ballot as necessary, as occurred in Ervia’s case. The issue of pay progression is not a matter that would have been raised with my Department as it does not arise at present, given that a pay freeze is in place until 2016. Pay progression thereafter is not automatic and will be dependent on, inter alia, affordability.

The Government will shortly consider proposals to establish a unified board arrangement for Ervia and Irish Water. One of the first actions that I will be asking the new Board to take will be to review the application and operation of the pay model outlined above in Irish Water, particularly in its start-up phase.