Households to know water charges before May local elections, says Taoiseach

Households will know the average charge for water before May local elections, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

He told the Dáil that the business model for Irish Water would be published before then, taking into account the approved allowance and charge to apply thereafter. It had not been published to date because the Government wanted to get it as right as possible.

Mr Kenny said he had no idea of the extent of the culture of water use that would apply from September, when charges began, although the bills would not be demanded until January 1st of next year.

“We have done a great deal of work on the business model,” said Mr Kenny. “It is not finished yet but it will be published before the local elections, hopefully in the not too distant future.”

Level of free allowance
The Taoiseach was replying to Fianna Fá

il leader Micheál Martin who said Irish Water had been up and running since Mr John Tierney had been appointed chief executive in January 2013. "A total of €180 million has been spent on establishing this entity but it seems the Taoiseach is nowhere near being in a position to provide a bit of transparency about the amount people will pay," he added.

Mr Martin said the Government had a minimum of a year-and-a-half to determine basic elements such as the level of the free allowance, social affordability and the public subvention. "The view is that it is deliberately withholding this model because it does not want people to know too much about it before the local elections," he added.

Mr Martin said that before coming into office, Labour had made it clear it was not in favour of water charges. He said Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore had once said that essential services like water should be delivered as a public service.

In fairness, he added, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan had said people might know by St Patrick's Day.

“Perhaps he was thinking of the phrase the Taoiseach once used, ‘Paddy likes to know’,” he added. “I do not know whether Paddy will know on St Patrick’s Day but perhaps the Taoiseach could enlighten us as to whether he will.”

Mr Kenny repeated that the business model would be published before the elections. “That will take into account the subvention and the free allowance,” he said.

The Government, he said, was trying to put in place a structure to deliver water at the highest standards of professional competence.

It was to transform all the local authorities into a single entity and deliver that capacity. “We have people coming in every week wanting to invest here,” said Mr Kenny. “They need high volumes of water for industry.”