Howlin: I know people are ‘cheesed off’ about water

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has said he understands why people are "cheesed off" about water charges.

Speaking on his way into Government Buildings this morning, Mr Howlin acknowledged the “unprecedented” campaign against water charges.

However, he said he believed most people would regard the Irish Water model as a good idea even if they felt they could not afford to pay at present.

“There’s been an unprecedented campaign over this issue... I understand that after six years of really difficult impositions on the Irish people as we have rebuilt a broken economy, this is almost the last residual thing that people have said ‘I’m cheesed off about’, and I understand that,” Mr Howlin said.

"We need to have the wherewithal off balance sheet to invest in a proper first world water and sewage treatment system, an integrated one for the country as a whole, so the Irish Water model is something most people objectively will see as a good idea even if they feel right now they can't pay any more."

Irish Water said the latest figure on registrations was 1.148 million, of which approximately 906,900 are Irish Water customers.

A spokeswoman for Irish Water said this figure represented over 60 per cent of the total customer base.

She said the utility had seen a surge in registrations over the last number of days and that approximately 12,000 had arrived by post on Tuesday morning.

There will be no penalties imposed on those who failed to meet the “deadline” for registration, although some who fail to sign up may face higher charges at some future point.

Irish Water spokeswoman Elizabeth Arnett told The Irish Times there would be an assumption made that those who did not confirm their details to Irish Water were part of a two-adult household so would face the standard €260 charge.