Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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1586. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans for a water fountain scheme for towns and cities here similar to the one established in London; the amount such a scheme would cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16048/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I understand that the scheme referred to is one initiated by the Mayor of London aimed at reducing the use of plastic bottles.  My Department is not currently involved in the development of plans for such a scheme in Ireland.

 There are comprehensive existing arrangements in place for the public provision of water services, which are supportive of the use of tap water.  Each household on the public water supply provided by Irish Water can use up to a threshold amount of 213,000 litres of water per annum without charge.  Households with more than four occupants can apply for an additional allowance amount of 25,000 litres per additional person per annum.  The manner in which these threshold and allowance amounts are set is prescribed in Section 9 of the Water Services Act 2017.  The costs associated with the delivery of public water services by Irish Water are met by Exchequer funding provided through the vote of my Department.

 It should be noted that proposals to encourage consumers to use tap water and the question of free public access points to drinking water are among the initiatives contained in the European Commission proposals for a recast of Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption, published on 1 February 2018.   My Department provided the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government with an Information Note on the proposed directive and attended a meeting of the Committee on 21 March 2018 as part of its scrutiny process on the proposals.  I understand that the Committee has communicated views on the proposals contained within the draft directive to the European Commission.  My Department expects that there are a number of issues contained in the current draft which will be the subject of debate before finalisation.  My Department looks forward to engaging further with the European Commission and Member States on this matter as part of the process leading to the agreement of a final text, and has undertaken to update the Joint Oireachtas Committee as this process evolves.