David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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185. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the status of his commitment to retaining Irish Water in public ownership, and given this, if he will introduce legislation to amend section 4 of the Water Services Act 2013, which refers to the subsidiary, Irish Water, as a private company limited by shares. [14067/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government decided in December 2011, based on the recommendations in an independent assessment, to establish a public water utility company to take over the operational and capital delivery functions of local authorities in the water services area. The Government also decided that the question of whether the role of Irish Water should be assigned to an existing State Agency merited further analysis with a view to ensuring that existing resources and capabilities in the State sector were used to best effect.

This further analysis was undertaken by a team comprising my Department and NewERA, in consultation with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The process involved an assessment of the capacity and capabilities of a number of State agencies from amongst those identified in the independent assessment as having the potential to incorporate a new water utility. The process involved the making of detailed submissions and presentations by Bord na Móna and Bord Gáis Éireann based on identified capabilities required for the establishment and operation of Irish Water.

The outcome of the analysis was that Irish Water should be established as an independent State owned company within the Ervia Group.

The Water Services Act 2013 provided for the establishment of Irish Water as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis Éireann (now Ervia), conforming to the conditions contained in the Act and registered under the Companies Acts.

Section 5 of the Water Services Act 2013, as amended by Section 46 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013, prohibits each of the shareholders of Irish Water – who are the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Minister for Finance and Ervia - from disposing of their shareholding in Irish Water and thus placed a statutory prohibition on the privatisation of Irish Water.

To further strengthen this protection of the State’s ownership of the company, Section 2 of the Water Services Act 2014 provides that in the event of any proposal for legislation being brought forward at any future stage that would involve a change in the State ownership of Irish Water, the matter would have to be put to a plebiscite of the people.