Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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239. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will immediately dissolve Irish Water and return moneys and responsibility to local authorities for local water supplies and maintenance. [12399/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Government has embarked on a programme of ambitious reform of the water sector, as the traditional water services system was in need of fundamental change.  Our public water infrastructure is deficient and inadequate as a consequence of decades of under-investment and the lack of a truly national approach that could maximise the impact of investment.

An Independent Assessment published in 2012 reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of the delivery of water services through the then 34 local authorities and concluded that there was a fragmentation of leadership and co-ordination, difficulty in attaining economies of scale, difficulty in delivering projects of national importance and an aging and poor quality network. The report concluded that the best way of ensuring increasing efficiency and effectiveness of operations and capital investment and accessing new finances for the water sector was to establish Irish Water as a public utility. 

This was implemented through the Water Services Act 2013, which provided for the establishment of Irish Water, and the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 which provided for the transfer of responsibility for water services provision from the local authorities to Irish Water. The transfer of responsibility took effect on 1 January 2014.

The Independent Assessment also pointed to the particular strengths of the local authority system in relation to locally based teams. This positive aspect is preserved through the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) put in place between Irish Water and local authorities which garner the knowledge and expertise of local authority staff combined with the network and utility management experience available to Irish Water to provide for a more consistent and efficient service for customers.

Since its establishment, Irish Water has implemented key management and systems changes to provide for a more strategic approach to managing water services assets and underpinning priority investment.  Capital investment in core infrastructure in the 2014 – 2016 period will be substantially more than in 2013. This year, investment will increase by 26% on 2014, risingfrom €340 million to €430million.

Irish Water, like other utilities, will have the capacity to fund investment without adding to the Government Debt.  It would not be possible to fund the same level of investment if the responsibility for water services had remained with local authorities. The independent regulation of the sector by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) will ensure that operational efficiency is achieved across the sector, in Irish Water's central services and in the Service Level Agreements. This will take account of international benchmarks and will be focused on ensuring that customers are only charged for an efficient service.  The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provided the CER with statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of customers.

The Act provides that Irish Water shall charge each customer for the provision of services provided by it in accordance with a water charge plan to be approved by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). A new water charging regime was announced by the Government on 19 November 2014, which is designed to make water charges more affordable for customers. The charges structure was revised with a view to making it simpler and fairer, providing more clarity and certainty to households. The Water Services Act 2014 provides that the capped annual charges will be €160 for single adult households and €260 for all other households until the end of 2018. The overall cost for those who register with Irish Water, net of the €100 water conservation grant, is either €1.15 a week for single adult households or €3 a week for all others. Water supply will not be reduced under any circumstance.