Minister signs order fixing vesting day for water services property

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has made the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 (Property Vesting Day) Order 2026, a statutory instrument dealing with the vesting day for water services property. The order is published as S.I. No. 503 of 2026 in Iris Oifigiúil No. 80 of Tuesday, 6 October 2026, in the same issue that carries S.I. No. 502 of 2026, the European Union (Restrictive Measures Concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo) (No. 2) Regulations 2026.

The order was made in exercise of the powers conferred on the Minister by section 12 (1) of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 (No. 50 of 2013), as adapted by the Housing, Planning and Local Government (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020 (S.I. No. 408 of 2020). The official notice is signed by Graham Doyle, Secretary General of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and is carried in section I of the issue.

Statutory basis and issuing authority

The instrument rests on section 12 (1) of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013, the provision cited in the notice as the source of the Minister’s power to make the order. The reference to the 2020 alteration order confirms that the function now sits with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, following the renaming of the department and of the minister’s title.

The key identifiers recorded in the gazette entry are:

• Instrument: Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 (Property Vesting Day) Order 2026.
• Official number: S.I. No. 503 of 2026.
• Enabling provision: section 12 (1) of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 (No. 50 of 2013).
• Adaptation order: S.I. No. 408 of 2020.
• Signatory: Graham Doyle, Secretary General, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The notice is issued over the signature of the Secretary General of the Department, the standard authentication for statutory instruments announced in the gazette.

Publication and availability

The notice sets out the practical details for anyone wishing to obtain the text of the order:

• Price: €3.50.
• Supplier: Government Publications, Mountshannon Road, Kilmainham, Dublin, D08 XA06.
• Telephone: 046 942 3100.
• Email: publications@opw.ie.

The order appears in the issue of Iris Oifigiúil dated Tuesday, 6 October 2026, published by authority as Number 80.

What the notice records

The gazette entry is a formal announcement that the order has been made, together with the statutory power under which it was made and the official title by which it may be cited. It does not reproduce the operative text of the order, and it does not state the vesting day itself or identify the property concerned; those details sit in the order available from Government Publications.

The entry is carried in section I of the issue, the section in which statutory instruments and similar official notices appear, and is marked with the reference [G-4].

Relevance

For bodies operating in the water sector, the making of the order is the formal step that sets the vesting day for water services property under the 2013 Act. Because the gazette notice confirms only the making of the instrument, the operative date and the property affected must be read from the order itself, which is on sale from Government Publications at €3.50.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, No. 80, 6 October 2026, section I (official reference: S.I. No. 503 of 2026).