18 Oct Reform of the Water Sector in Ireland – Response to Consultation on the establishment of a Public Water Utility

Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE)
2012

In response to the Department of the Environment Community and Local Government’s request for views on their Water Services Reform, Phase 1, Report and Position Paper (Jan. 2012) the IAE and Engineers Ireland on 24th February 2012 issued them with their joint “Response to Consultation on the establishment of a Public Water Utility, (i.e. Irish Water) The IAE and Engineers Ireland welcomed the Position Paper and called for a robust and transparent funding model which includes for the substantial legacy issues on the Local Authorities’ books.
The importance of the early and on-going conduct of Regulatory Impact Assessments and Risk Analyses is recommended using the knowledge of the sector and its key issues, resident in existing practitioners.
It is also recommended that legacy liabilities are met from the Exchequer, rather than recovery through higher water charges, burdening customers and impacting negatively on national competitiveness.