Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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628. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the operational costs of Irish Water in 2014; the estimated final total operational cost in 2015, broken down by section, that is, wages, administration and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46096/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Irish Water is a regulated utility and its operating and capital plans are reviewed by the Commission for Energy Regulation, which approves an “allowed revenue” for the regulatory period, i.e. Quarter 4 2014 to end 2016 – this represents the total costs (including depreciation and the return on capital employed) which Irish Water can recover from customer’s bills, taking account of Government subvention.

The annual average operational costs in the period 2015 and 2016 under the regulatory model are estimated at €750m. It might be noted that some costs, such as the first fix programme amounting to around €30m per annum are capitalised within the regulatory model, but are treated as operational costs under the relevant accounting rules. Details of Irish Water’s proposed costs are outlined in their revenue and water charges plan which was reviewed by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). Details of the review and the CER’s decision are available at .

Information on Irish Water’s operational costs for 2014 are set out in its Financial Statements for 2014 which are available in the Oireachtas Library. In relation to any further breakdown of these costs, Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. The team can be contacted via email to or by telephone on a dedicated number, 1890 578 578.