MINISTER FOR the Environment Phil Hogan has dismissed claims by the Opposition that the Government has committed to introduce flat-rate water charges.
Mr Hogan’s spokeswoman said yesterday that the Minister had said publicly that water charges would be not be introduced until water meters were installed, and those charges would be based on water usage.
She was responding to Fianna Fáil’s spokesman on the environment Niall Collins, who said Taoiseach Enda Kenny had admitted that the local utility charge and the water charges were one and the same thing and that water charges would be introduced on a flat rate.
However, the spokeswoman said the Taoiseach had made no such concession.
She said Mr Kenny referred to both but added that they were separate charges.
“The local utility charge relates to the property charge and not to water charges. It is an interim household charge that will be imposed on houses and property in 2012.
“All revenue from household charges will go to the provision of local services and reduce the funding requirements from the exchequer that exists at present.”
She said the method and scale of the charge would depend on the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review which will be completed in September. The review may suggest money-saving alternatives to such charges.
Mr Collins asserted it was becoming evident that the local utility charge and the water charge were “in effect two sides of the same coin”.
He said the Government parties had campaigned against the imposition of flat-rate charges but the likelihood was that both would be introduced as flat charges.
“It’s a back-door tax that goes against the election manifestos of both parties.
“It is a double U-turn and will hit householders with a double whammy of new taxes, which will be discriminatory against many sections of society who cannot afford to pay them.
“Minister Hogan must immediately stop his pretence that they are two different matters. He is trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes by distancing one charge from the other.
“The reality is that we appear to be getting flat-rate water charges next year despite continuous commitments from the Government that this would not happen.”
The spokeswoman pointed out that the memorandum of understanding with the EU and IMF stipulated that water metering and a property tax be introduced within the lifetime of the agreement.
