I thank the Minister of State for being with us here today. It is much appreciated. The issue I am raising relates to the Irish Water connection fee, particularly where it concerns community groups and voluntary organisations. I am seeking that the connection fee they currently have to pay would be reviewed and waived.

The situation at the moment, which I appreciate is not necessarily a common, everyday situation, is that if a community organisation seeks a connection to Irish Water, it is charged a commercial rate. There is no waiver or reduction taking account of the fact that they are not-for-profit and volunteer-led organisations. This may not be something that happens on a very regular basis, but when it does happen, it has detrimental effects on these groups. In particular, I am speaking today on behalf of Rylane Community Park Association, which is a community group in my own parish of Aghabullogue in Cork North-West.

It is a group I have worked very closely with for the past six years.

Rylane is a village of 600 people. We set up a group in 2016 to build a hub for the community. So far, we have delivered an astroturf facility, a playground and a soccer pitch. We were fortunate last year that we were allocated €1.6 million under the community centre investment fund. Since 2016, this group has been awarded over €2.2 million in grants and since that time as well it has raised €420,000 in fundraising. As I said, that is from a village of 600 people. We are currently building our community hub. As I said, we got €1.6 million for it. We have to raise a further 10%, which is €200,000. It is difficult but under control. It was with great surprise and shock, though, that this group was hit with a bill from Irish Water for €69,500 for a connection fee. That is money the group simply does not have. It is very disappointing to see that the way this fee is calculated is that there is a fixed and commercial rate and it is based on the diameter of the pipe being used. It has nothing to do with the actual or projected usage or the length of pipe required. It is simply to do with the diameter of the pipe. For a group of this size to be facing a charge of €69,500 seems absolutely ludicrous. To add insult to injury, the group received this letter of offer in September. The initial letter of offer, received in August, was for €259,000, because it was being proposed at that point that a larger pipe was needed.

We need to hold Irish Water accountable here. It makes no sense that a commercial rate fee is being applied to these volunteer-led community organisations. In budget 2026 alone, €1.45 billion was allocated to Irish Water. We need some bit of accountability and transparency when it comes to Irish Water, the way in which it communicates and the reasons behind these fees because it does not make sense to me.

I thank Senator Lynch for raising this important issue. Most of us know of the Senator's reputation in terms of the work she does with communities and the approach she has to trying to get support from various State agencies to work alongside local fundraising. I know from personal experience just how difficult it can be then to have to provide from a group's own resources for something that should, potentially, be waived. The Minister, Deputy James Browne, cannot be here, unfortunately, and he has asked me to convey his sorrow in that regard.

He has also asked me to set out that the statutory position in relation to water charges for non-domestic customers of Uisce Éireann is set out in the Water Services Acts 2007 to 2017, as amended. Irish Water, now Uisce Éireann, became responsible for the provision of public water services with effect from 1 January 2014 and is required under the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 to collect charges from its non-domestic customers in receipt of water services. Water charges in respect of domestic customers are funded from the Exchequer through the budgetary provision in respect of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The Act also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, and the CRU has been given statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of customers. The CRU, as the independent economic regulator, determines an economically efficient level of allowed revenue to be recovered by Uisce Éireann annually, from non-domestic customers, over a particular number of years. When approving an allowed revenue for the period, the CRU seeks to drive cost efficiencies and improve services delivered to customers. In advance of considering tariffs, the CRU will engage in a consultation period and seek submissions, a process it completed during summer 2025. The CRU recognises that affordability is a significant issue for non-domestic customers, but it is required to have regard to the need for Uisce Éireann to operate in a commercially viable manner. This is where the issue lies. It with this requirement by law that Uisce Éireann must operate for non-domestic customers in this way, and it is very rigid in that regard. No provision was made in the legislation that would allow for fees to be waived in relation to community facilities or charitable entities.

The only exemption from charges provided for under the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 is in relation to water services provided to fire authorities. All non-domestic customers, including schools, sports clubs, community groups, not-for-profit organisations and charities, were initially transferred to Irish Water under their existing charging agreement with their local authority with no changes, as instructed by the CRU. The CRU has since determined a standardised set of tariffs applied to all non-domestic customers nationwide. Tariffs exist to ensure the recovery of the costs of providing water services, including environmental and resource costs. This is in accordance with Article 9 of the European Union water framework directive and thereby helps towards securing reliable, efficient and sustainable water services.

Uisce Éireann has a strong customer service focus through its water charges plan and customer charter, which outlines the standard of service customers should expect to receive. However, implementation of the water charges plan is a matter in the first instance for Uisce Éireann. Of course, any issues that cannot be resolved by Uisce Éireann to the satisfaction of the customer can be referred under the formal complaints process to CRU.

I welcome a group of students and staff from Scoil San Treasa, Mount Merrion, who are guests of Deputy Shay Brennan. They are all very welcome and I hope they are enjoying their tour. The tradition here is that students do not get any homework today. They do not have any homework today or, even better, tomorrow. I call Senator Lynch.

I thank the Minister of State very much for the reply. I appreciate this matter does not fall under his Department, so I thank him again. I note the contents of the reply, and I know the background to Uisce Éireann and Irish Water and all of that. I understand it and the importance of water as a resource and the need for it to be financed. The reply, however, is incredibly disappointing because, to me, it does not seem to be that there is any wriggle room there at all in terms of reviewing this matter, and that is what I am looking for. It is insane for a group of the size of the one I am talking about to be paying €69,500. This could potentially make a €2 million project fall to the ground. We are not unique in this regard because there are other cases like this all around the country. As I said, though, they are not everyday occurrences. There is even the use of language in respect of the term, "non-domestic customers". We are being charged a commercial rate for what is not a commercial entity. Regarding all the examples given in terms of non-domestic customers, including schools, sports clubs, community groups, not-for-profit organisations and charities, where do companies and commercial entities fall in? All the non-domestic customer examples given were, generally, not-for-profit entities.

I note too that initially when those groups were transferred to Irish Water there were no charges, and then a fixed tariff was set up. Where are we getting these figures from and where is the breakdown coming from? It is actually very difficult to get that information from Irish Water. I would really appreciate if the Minister of State could raise this matter further with the Minister.

I thank the Senator again for her very insightful comments on the response provided by the Department. Of course, I will feed her thoughts and comments back. The Government does recognise the importance of community groups and not-for-profits and acknowledges the social good these organisations deliver every day in our towns, cities and rural areas. The Exchequer continues to provide funding to Uisce Éireann for domestic customers, and non-domestic customers are required to contribute towards the cost of providing their water services. The necessary reality is that delivering water services and investing in improving existing services is very costly.

I would make a point, however, that might be considered. The regulations are as they are. As the Senator identified, Irish Water is there and it has guidance from the CRU in terms of its recovery of the costs. In many cases, as the Senator said, these are entities receiving State support. It might be worth looking, as a Senator, at a Private Members' Bill to review the legislation and review the way in which water services are provided to community groups or charities generally and to put some work into that. I am sure the Department would engage with the Senator. Having had the pleasure of having spent a few years in here, I know how proposals can come forward. It might not be exactly as the Senator would wish it to be, but it is a way for her to engage in the drafting of a Private Members' Bill with the support of her colleagues and to tease out some of the facts. It is not going to happen for the entity in the Senator's area on this occasion, but it may be that over time the Senator's work would be able to feed into a change in approach. I just mention that as something worth looking at.