Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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77. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform further to Parliamentary Question No. 21 of 20 November 2014, the reason the cost of the water conservation grant is estimated at €130 million in view of the fact that Irish Water has issued 1.5 million application packs and non-Irish Water customers will also be eligible for receipt of the payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45571/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Water Conservation Grant is to be paid to registered householders annually in respect of their primary dwellings whether they are customers of Irish Water or not. I understand that Irish Water issued some 2 million registration packs to all households in the State. There are approximately 1.65m primary residences in the State which would require a potential allocation of €165m.  

The grant will be paid for the first time in 2015. The estimated cost of €130m was based on the assumption that not all households would apply for the grant in the first year.  For 2016, it was estimated that the cost could increase to €150m. In the event that there is a higher number of applications for the grant than covered by the estimated amount of €130m, any additional cost will be provided  by the Exchequer as part of the normal Estimates process.