Things fall apart…as the Dáil prepares to meet in two weeks time and parties engage in pre-Budget skirmishing, the issue of domestic water charges will strain an unstable Government. Putting a Budget together with Independent Alliance ministers – and involving Fianna Fáil oversight – will be Fine Gael’s easier task. Devising a face-saving compromise on domestic water charges may be impossible, now that Micheál Martin has demanded their outright abolition.
Timing by the Fianna Fáil leader was impeccable, on the eve of Fine Gael’s special parliamentary party meeting. It added another problem to Enda Kenny’s already stressful agenda and suggested Fianna Fáil’s support for the minority Government is highly conditional.
As for pre-empting findings by the special commission on water charges that will report in November, sure hadn’t Fianna Fáil told it water should be paid for through general taxation?
This shift in Fianna Fáil's approach was described by Gerry Adams as a 'U-turn'; a manoeuvre the Sinn Féin president knows intimately. Having legislated to suspend domestic water charges for nine months, however, the prospect of this Dáil reinstating them is highly unlikely, no matter what the EU Commission says about conservation, 'the polluter pays' or breaches of the Water Framework Directive. If EU fines follow, they too will be funded through general taxation.
The water charge campaign represents old, urban-style politics, writ large. Water and sewage charges will continue to be levied on commercial and public entities by Irish Water, while households using group water schemes will also pay. An estimated 250,000 homes face health risks because half of all treatment plants, mainly in rural areas, are inadequate.
An investment plan costing €3.5 billion has been submitted, as ‘boil water’ notices multiply because of a threat from cryptosporidium.
Suspension of domestic charges will cost Irish Water an estimated €300million. With less than €1 billion available in the coming Budget, how can this loss and urgent investment requirements be met?