Operators against exposing Irish Water to Freedom of Information Act

Bord Gáis Éireann (BGE) told the Government it strongly rejected that either it or its new subsidiary, Irish Water, should be covered by the Freedom of Information Act.

BGE contended that Irish Water would already be subject to a regulatory regime designed to provide proper oversight of its activities.

It said making it subject to Freedom of Information requests would present an unfair administrative burden and could lead to unnecessary costs, which would ultimately be borne by customers.

It also maintained that Irish Water would initially provide services through agreements with local authorities and, as a result, “there could be many requests for information from the public that may not be in the national interest or may not be bona fide”.

"In this way the legislation could be exploited."

Policy change
BGE's parent department, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, said it would be concerned if there was to be a change in policy to have commercial State firms come under the scope of the legislation.

The Government decided in January amid widespread controversy at the time about jobs, salaries and bonuses at Irish Water that the Freedom of Information Act should be retrospectively applied to the date it was legally established, July 17th last year.

In a paper sent first to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and then to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform last April when it was planning reforms to the Act, BGE argued that the legislation should not cover Irish Water.

The BGE paper said the Commission for Energy Regulation would be charged with oversight of Irish Water, which would have to conduct its economic operations in a transparent manner.

"It is envisaged that the Commission for Energy Regulation's powers will include authority to examine all costs incurred by Irish Water in the delivery of water services and to determine what level of tariffs are more appropriate for Irish Water to charge for services, the setting of standards for performance for Irish Water and to ensure that appropriate customer protection measures are in place."

EPA oversight
It also said the Environmental Protection Agency would have an oversight role in relation to various technical and environmental matters. A large body of information about the environment and Irish Water's activities would be available in publications and reports.

The paper said it was the Government’s intention that Irish Water would be self-financing and would raise funds from the capital markets.

“Freedom of Information requests may seek such information which is commercially sensitive and may hinder Irish Water’s ability to secure funding if this information is visible to potential investors.”

It also said Irish Water’s (or possible BGE’s) credit rating would be of critical commercial concern to the company, affecting its ability to negotiate the best possible rates for debt and investment.

"This could be compromised if confidential commercial operations were subject to FoI requests."

Deals in jeopardy
The paper also argued that the Act could jeopardise the ability of Irish Water to ensure the most competitive deals on services such as the supply, installation and maintenance of water meters etc.

It also contended that applying personnel and resources to deal with Freedom of Information requests “may divert such staff and resources from other necessary activities leading to unnecessary costs to be borne by water customers”.