Sir, – Since the issue of water charges first arose, I have had no difficulty with the principle of paying for this valuable and finite commodity. I expect that clean water will come through my taps, and I am not unprepared to pay for it. I have all the arrangements set up in my bank to do so.
But then, today, my first bill arrived, asking for double the amount of money that our friends, just four miles away in south Dublin, were billed. Our circumstances are almost identical – two adults in a small residence, all of us conscious that water should not be wasted.
The only obvious difference is that they are metered and we are not. And the word is that we are unlikely to be metered in the near future, if ever.
At the same time the Irish Water website’s “Helpful Information” informs us that “Irish Water has an obligation to install, read and maintain meters properly”. There is no qualifying word or sentence, no “if” or “but”.
Just as each of the other utility services sends no bill in the absence of metering, surely Irish Water should relate its bills to the amount of water used.
Being told, as I was on contacting Irish Water, that on my unmetered billing system we could use as much water as we liked, was most unhelpful, since my understanding of the matter is that it is all about the careful use of water.
I am discovering that, as the anti-payment protesters have been saying all along, it is all a mess.
Perhaps someone will tell me when and where the next protest is being held? – Yours, etc,
CECIL MILLS,
Monkstown,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – I am happy to say we just received our first bill for water. It might have been as high as €5 a week. It wasn’t that much. We had the wisdom to register and accept a water meter. Our water will then cost only about 74 cents a week, the price of a litre of milk! Now who is going to say “we can’t pay” to just under €39 for a whole year’s supply? The politicians who try to win votes by advocating non-payment are making themselves look very foolish and doing everyone a great disservice. Those who refuse metering should get a meter and save money. – Yours, etc,
D LEONARD
Blackrock,
Co Dublin .