Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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689. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans for the ongoing review of funding supports for group water schemes; the length of time the review will take; the lead official in his Department working on the review; the organisations and persons that have been consulted to date; the opportunities available to individual group water schemes or interested third parties to engage with the consultation. [49952/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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In its report published in April 2017, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services recommended that that the principles of equity of treatment and equivalent financial support be applied equally between households using public water services and those availing of private water services. It recommended that the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government conduct a review, in coordination with the National Federation of Group Water Schemes and other relevant stakeholders, to quantify what additional investment is required to equalise treatment between households. It recommended that following such a review, identified investment be provided.

As an initial step in reviewing the supports available to the rural water community my Department is currently in discussions with the National Federation of Group Water Schemes, the representative body for the group water sector, on the future subsidy levels for group water schemes.  I expect this review to be concluded shortly in order to allow for any subsidy changes to be introduced from 1 January 2018.

Separate to the initial review of group water scheme subsidy levels, I intend to establish a working group, chaired at Assistant Secretary level, to conduct a wider review of investment needs and rural water services, focusing on issues such as governance, supervision and monitoring of the sector, and capital investment requirements.  I would expect that this Group will engage widely with relevant stakeholders and will aim to complete its work by mid-2018.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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690. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the funding his Department provides to a group (details supplied) on an annual basis since the group was established. [49953/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Funding is provided through my Department's Rural Water Programme to the National Federation of Group Water Schemes to support their work within the group water sector. The funding provided to the Federation since its formation in 1998 is set out in the table hereunder. Following a routine internal audit in 2013 which highlighted the accumulation of cash surpluses by the Federation, reduced funding was provided in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Funding levels to the Federation are being progressively restored since 2016.