Five years before Bord Gáis and Irish Water merged, says chief

IT WILL be “five years at least” before Irish Water is fully established and incorporated into Bord Gáis, the chief executive of the semi-State body, John Mullins, said yesterday.

Speaking at the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants lunch in Dublin, Mr Mullins indicated the cost to the public would not be as high as had been suggested by some reports.

“I can certainly say it is not going to be €600,” he said, noting that Bord Gáis has been able to install meters for “less than €300”.

“We’ll go out to the market and try and get the best price possible for the meters, and the best price possible for the fitting of those meters.

“Ultimately nobody knows what the totality of the cost will be,” he added.

Earlier this month, the Government announced plans to introduce domestic water charges and to create a new body, Irish Water, which would be established as an independent State-owned company within the Bord Gáis group.

Bord Gáis/Irish Water will gradually assume the operation of water services from local authorities on a phased basis. It is envisaged that this will not be completed before 2017.

Local authority staff will remain “agents” of Bord Gáis until that point.

The regulator is expected to determine the basis on which people will be charged by 2014.

Asked whether Bord Gáis was the most suitable candidate to run the new water utility, Mr Mullins said it already had extensive experience in the utilities area.

“We know how to bill customers – we have plenty of IT infrastructure,” he said. Noting Bord Gáis currently outsources its customer service, he said: “That model is working for us; there’s no reason it would not work for Irish Water.”

The semi-State is planning to house Irish Water in its former headquarters in Dublin’s Foley Street.

Bord Gáis moved from the site near Connolly Station to Warrington Street last year.

Pointing out that Ireland had a leakage rate of 40 per cent, the highest in Europe, Mr Mullins said one of the key priorities was to address existing problems in the system.

On his own future with Bord Gáis, Mr Mullins, whose contract finishes at the end of the year, said he was “having a conversation at board level”.

Highlighting the fact Bord Gáis had embarked on a “different track”, he declined to say whether he would stay with the company. “It’s a negotiation process, and negotiations have begun.”

Mr Mullins had direct experience of working with water companies during his time at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, where he was employed as a consultant in the field of energy, transport and telecommunications.

Calling for a Yes vote in the forthcoming fiscal treaty, Mr Mullins said rejection would have an impact, not only on Irish sovereign debt markets, but also on companies trying to raise debts in the market.

Mr Mullins said the decision to create Irish Water would lead to the creation of new jobs. “If there were to be job losses in the future, they would be by the way of voluntary programmes, as has been the case in the gas industry and the electricity sector.”