A prominent cleric has questioned what people who have paid their water charges should do now after Fine Gael has agreed a deal with Fianna Fail to suspend water charges for a period of nine months while a commission examines the issue.
The Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Dr Paul Colton revealed that he was unsure what he should do having paid his water charges to date only to now discover that they are being suspended as part of the deal reached by the two main parties.
"So those of us who put in place our dutiful direct debits to Irish Water - do we cancel them now or what?" asked Bishop Colton in a tweet after details were published of the deal whereby Fianna Fáil would facilitate the election of a minority led Fine Gael government.
So - those of us who put in place our dutiful direct debits to #IrishWater Do we cancel them now, or what?
— paul colton (@b2dac) May 3, 2016
While there has been a broad welcome for a commitment in the deal to retain Irish Water as a single national utility held in public ownership with responsibility for the delivery of water and waste water services, the issue of suspending water charges has proven more problematic.
According to the deal, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have agreed that "the Government will, within six weeks of its appointment, introduce and support legislation in the Oireachtas to suspend domestic water charges for a period of nine months from the end of the current billing cycle."
Refunds
“We affirm that those who have paid their water bills to date will be treated no less favourably than those who have not,” said the two parties, without specifying whether or not those who have paid their water charges to date will be given refunds.
But the proposal has been strongly criticised by Minister for the Environment, Labour's Alan Kelly, who questioned whether the suspension is legal.
“There is one vital question and it is the following - are Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael acting within the law? Does the decision to suspend water charges run contrary to EU law and in particular article 9 of the Water Framework directive?’’ he asked.
Speaking in a Dáil debate last week on Irish Water when it was strongly speculated there would be a suspension of charges, Mr Kelly warned that such a suspension would result in the loss of billions of euro in potential investment in water.
He said that if there was any fairness, law-abiding people, who could afford to pay and did pay their water charges, would get their money back. This would mean Irish Water would have to reprocess well in excess of €2 million in financial transactions. “Is that common sense?’’ he asked.
“But whether the charge is being suspended or abolished, I believe Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael need to tell people how and when they will give them back their money,” said Mr Kelly, adding that the loser was the environment and those who depended on a clean water supply.
