Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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541. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when the requirement to have paid water charges will be removed from the tenant (incremental) purchase scheme criteria in view of the fact that water charges have been suspended and refunds will be issued to Irish Water customers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40584/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The current position is that, pending any legislative change, arrears of water charges incurred by households remain to be discharged before the sale of a dwelling. Under Section 3(A)(9) of the Water Services Act 2014 (inserted by Section 48 of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2015) a person who is a tenant of a dwelling let to him under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2014 and who proposes to purchase the dwelling shall before completion of the sale provide the local authority concerned with a certificate of discharge from Irish Water confirming that any charge under section 21 of the No. 2 Act 2013 in respect of the dwelling owed to Irish Water has been paid. The sale of the dwelling cannot proceed until a certificate of discharge in respect of the dwelling has been received from Irish Water.

In line with the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2016, domestic water charges are suspended from 1 July 2016 to the end of 2017. However, Irish Water domestic customers remain liable for any water charges (and late payment charges) in respect of the period prior to this suspension, i.e. from 1 January 2015 to the 30 June 2016.

Following approval by the Government, the Water Services Bill 2017 was published on 22 September 2017. The Bill reflects the recommendations of the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services. This report, published on 12 April 2017, was approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas. The Bill provides for the discontinuance of domestic water charges for dwellings as set out in the Water Services Act 2014, including the repeal of section 3(A) of that Act. Pending the passage of the Bill, the current legislative framework remains in place and tenants who propose to purchase a property under the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme must provide a certificate of discharge from Irish Water confirming charges up to 30 June 2016 have been paid.