Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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219. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if nursing homes are currently exempt from water charges; if not, if he will consider requesting such an exemption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28494/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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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 shall 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.

From 2001, national water pricing policy required local authorities to recover the costs of providing water services from all non-domestic users of these services. This policy provided for charges based on actual metered consumption and is consistent with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. Any business, including nursing homes, connected to a public water supply is liable for charges as a non-domestic customer. It should be noted that the existing arrangements for all non-domestic customers are remaining in place with no changes for the time being.

The CER is progressing a review of all aspects of non-domestic water tariffs and in conjunction with Irish Water will establish an enduring non-domestic tariff framework. The CER will in the coming months publish an information note informing customers and interested parties about the project.