Water Services Act 2017
|
Functions of Advisory Body | ||
|
44. (1) The Advisory Body shall have the following functions: | ||
(a) to advise the Minister on the measures needed to improve the transparency and accountability of Irish Water for the purpose of increasing the confidence of members of the public in Irish Water; | ||
(b) to furnish, on a quarterly basis, a report to the Committee on the performance by Irish Water in the implementation of its business plan with particular regard to the following: | ||
(i) infrastructure delivery and leakage reductions; | ||
(ii) cost reduction and efficiency improvements; | ||
(iii) improvements in water quality, including the elimination of boil water notices; | ||
(iv) procurement, remuneration and staffing policies; | ||
(v) responsiveness to the needs of communities and enterprise. | ||
(2) Subject to this Act, the Advisory Body shall have all such powers as are necessary or expedient for the performance of its functions. | ||
(3) The Advisory Body shall, in so far as is consistent with the proper performance of its functions, endeavour to secure administrative cooperation between it and the Commission, the Agency, Ervia, Irish Water and the Forum and for that purpose, the Advisory Body shall enter into an arrangement from time to time, with one or more of those bodies for the purposes of— | ||
(a) facilitating cooperation in the performance of their respective functions by those bodies in so far as they relate to Irish Water, | ||
(b) avoiding the duplication of activities by the Advisory Body and those other bodies, | ||
(c) ensuring, as far as practicable, that those other bodies cooperate with each other in a manner that best promotes the performance by the Advisory Body of its functions, and | ||
(d) ensuring, as far as practicable, consistency between decisions made by those bodies and measures referred to in subsection (1)(a). | ||
(4) An arrangement under subsection (3) shall not operate to— | ||
(a) bind the parties to the arrangement, or | ||
(b) require a party to the arrangement to provide information to another party to the arrangement where the disclosure of that information by the first-mentioned party is prohibited by law. | ||
(5) A public authority shall have regard to a request made to it by the Advisory Body for any information, document or thing, which in the opinion of the Advisory Body is relevant to assist the Advisory Body in the performance of its functions, and the public authority shall use its best endeavours to facilitate such a request. | ||
(6) In this section— | ||
“Act of 1992” means the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 ; | ||
“business plan” means— | ||
(a) the most recent strategic funding plan provided under section 34A of the No. 2 Act of 2013 (inserted by section 19 ), or | ||
(b) where the plan mentioned in paragraph (a) has not been prepared, the most recent annual rolling five-year business and financial plan prepared by Irish Water of the type described in the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies issued by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform or other such codes or policy documents that may issue from time to time by a member of the Government, that has been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas; | ||
“Committee” means the Committee established under the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann to examine matters relating to Housing, Planning and Local Government and report to Dáil Éireann thereon; | ||
“cost reduction and efficiency improvements” means the cost reduction and efficiency improvements described in the most recent documentation prepared by the Commission to facilitate approval of a water charges plan under section 22 of the No. 2 Act of 2013; | ||
“improvements in water quality, including the elimination of boil water notices” means— | ||
(a) the improvements in water quality and elimination of boil water notices required to comply with the European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2014 ( S.I. No. 122 of 2014 ), as assessed by the Agency and described in the most recent drinking water report prepared and published by the Agency under section 58 of the Act of 1992, and | ||
(b) the improvements in water quality described in the most recent waste water report prepared and published by the Agency under section 61 of the Act of 1992; | ||
“infrastructure delivery and leakage reductions” means infrastructure delivery and leakage reductions referred to— | ||
(a) in any of the most recent— | ||
(i) water services strategic plan prepared by Irish Water under section 33 of the No. 2 Act of 2013, | ||
(ii) investment plan made by Irish Water under section 34 of the No. 2 Act of 2013, or | ||
(iii) documentation prepared by the Commission to facilitate approval of a water charges plan prepared by Irish Water under section 22 of the No. 2 Act of 2013, | ||
and | ||
(b) in any assessment of Irish Water’s performance published by the Commission; | ||
“procurement, remuneration and staffing policies” means those policies approved by the board of Ervia and contained in Irish Water’s most recent publication scheme prepared and published under section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 ; | ||
“public authority” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2007; | ||
“responsiveness to the needs of communities and enterprise” means the proposals by Irish Water for the responsiveness of Irish Water to the needs of customers and enterprises contained in the most recent water services strategic plan prepared by Irish Water under section 33 of the No. 2 Act of 2013. |