John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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460. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the rationale used by Irish Water to set connection fees for water and sewage in the case of new builds for both domestic and commercial buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19665/17]

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. Connection fees are a matter for the utility and the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). I have no function in the matter.

Section 22(5) of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that a water charges plan may provide for charges in respect of the provision of a service connection (within the meaning of the Water Services Act 2007) to, or in respect of, a premises. Since assuming responsibility for water and wastewater connection charging on 1 January 2014, Irish Water has continued to implement the connection charging policies and related charges applied by each local authority prior to that date.

I understand that the CER has commenced work on a project in relation to Irish Water’s connection charging policy and that it expects to commence the public consultation later this year on the development of an enduring policy for domestic and non-domestic connections to Irish Water’s network.

Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. The team can be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on a dedicated number, 1890 578 578.