Irish Water to investigate claims tenants' bank numbers were sent to landlords
Irish Water has said it will investigate claims that it sent tenants' bank account details to some landlords.
It has been reported that several tenants had sent their bank details to Irish Water to pay their bills by direct debit - only for those details to then be forwarded to landlords.
Hello @IrishWater cant waste anymore time on hold Can you explain why my personal bank account details have been sent to my landlord please?
— paulkeogan (@paulkeogan) October 20, 2014
The company also confirmed today that bonuses paid to employees will not count towards their pensions.
It says part of an employee's salary is held back, and only released after an assessment of their performance.
It has confirmed that this part of the salary does not count towards a worker's pension rights.
Paul McGowan from the Commission for Energy Regulation said that it will not intervene in Irish Water's system of bonuses for staff.
It has told an Oireachtas Committee that the utility's system for encouraging its own employees is none of its concern.
Earlier, Tánaiste Joan Burton told the Dáil that Irish Water cannot use people's PPS numbers for anything that is not set down in law.
Fears have been expressed that the new utility is collecting the numbers, which they say is to ensure allowances are allocated correctly.
However, some have questioned what would happen if the information if Irish Water is privatised.
Minister Burton said that the law ensures limited use of people's social security numbers.
“Social welfare legislation specifies that the PPS number can only be used by certain specified bodies, such as Irish Water, but only for the purposes of public service transactions
“Irish Water cannot – cannot – use PPS numbers for any other purposes. That’s set down in law.”
