Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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121. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will clarify the process of a sale of a house when the person has not registered with Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38965/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Section 23(A) of the Water Services (No.2) Act 2013 (inserted by Section 47 the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 ) requires the owner of a dwelling to either register with Irish Water as a customer or to notify Irish Water that they are not the occupier of the dwelling. Where the owner is not the occupier of the dwelling, the owner is required to notify Irish Water of the name of each person with whom he or she has an agreement to occupy the dwelling and the date of the commencement of any such agreement. Under Section 3(A) of the Water Services Act 2014 (inserted by Section 48 of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015) an owner of a dwelling who proposes to sell that dwelling shall before completion of the sale pay to Irish Water any charge in respect of the dwelling which is payable by the owner. The owner must also provide to his or her solicitor either a certificate of discharge from Irish Water confirming that any charge in respect of the dwelling owed to Irish Water has been paid or a statement from Irish Water that any charge in respect of the dwelling is not the liability of the owner.

Where the owner fails to provide either the certificate or the statement from Irish Water, the owner’s solicitor can request a statement from Irish Water setting out the amount of the charge payable by the owner to Irish Water in respect of the dwelling. This amount shall be withheld by the solicitor from the net proceeds of sale, if any, after the discharge of all mortgages and other liabilities relating to the sale and must be remitted to Irish Water within 20 working days of the completion of the sale of the dwelling.