John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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661. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the way in which Irish Water can justify the levying of a fee for a water connection for a person (details supplied) who constructed a dwelling for a family member; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48100/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Water Services Acts 2007-2017 set out the arrangements in place for the delivery of water and wastewater services by Irish Water, and for the scrutiny and oversight provisions that apply in respect of these arrangements.  Responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) and the CRU is required to perform its functions in a manner that best serves the interests of customers of Irish Water.

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. In line with a direction issued by the CRU, Irish Water currently continues to apply the same connection charges for connecting to the public water and/or wastewater network as were applied by local authorities on 31 December 2013. 

Following a comprehensive policy review and public consultation process, the CRU has recently published a proposed decision paper on a new National Connection Charging Policy for Irish Water.  The Policy will be aimed at developing a more harmonised methodology for connections to the public water and wastewater network. I understand that the CRU intends to make its final decision on the new National Connection Charging Policy before the end of 2018, with a view to its implementation by Irish Water early in 2019.

As Minister, I must respect the statutory powers and functions which the Oireachtas has conferred on both Irish Water and the CRU in relation to these matters and I cannot involve myself in individual cases. 

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