Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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215. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to involve the Revenue Commissioners in the collection of water charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43566/14]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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216. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the discussions his Department has had on tariffs with Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43567/14]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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217. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will report on discussions between his Department and Irish Water on the issue of free allowances for households or individual household members. [43569/14]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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222. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department has carried out a detailed analysis of the distributional effect of water charges. [43574/14]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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223. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the criteria and process used to arrive to the figure of €4.88 per litre for the water charges, higher than most European countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43575/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 215 to 217, inclusive, and 222 and 223 together.

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.

In January 2013, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) was commissioned by my Department to undertake a study into water affordability and the provision of water services in Ireland. Subsequently, an Inter-Departmental Working Group was established in October 2013 to advise the Government on the appropriate method for addressing affordability issues which might arise with the introduction of domestic water charges. The Group considered the ESRI study as part of their examination of the issues. The report of the Inter-Departmental Working Group, which includes the study carried out by the ESRI, has been published on my Department’s website and is available at the following link:

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The approach to charging was outlined by Irish Water in a water charges plan which it submitted to the CER in line with the provisions of the Act. On 30 September 2014, the CER issued a determination on the plan and full details and associated documentation, including all Irish Water tariffs, are available on the CER website at the following link;

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In making its determination on the water charges plan, the CER had to take account of the decisions made by the Government on the funding model for Irish Water and a direction made under Section 42 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act in July 2014. This policy direction addressed a number of matters relating to domestic water charges including the provision of a free allowance of 30,000 litres of water supplied and waste water treated per annum for a primary residence on a public supply and a free allowance to cover the normal usage of water services by every child in their primary residence based on the same qualifying conditions as the child benefit allowance while customers with specific medical conditions which require increased water consumption w ill have their charges capped. In making its decisions, the Government took account of the work of the Inter-Departmental Working Group .

Consideration is currently being given to measures to ensure water charges are modest and affordable and to bring the necessary certainty and clarity to the charging arrangements. This consideration includes matters relating to the collection of charges.