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Water Charges | FEATURE Heading | F

“THere WILL ALWAyS

Be SoMe excHeqUer

SUPPorT reqUIred

To cover THe fULL

coST of exPendITUre

on WATer

InfrASTrUcTUre.” – PHIL HogAn

Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government confirmed that the renewed programme for government includes a commitment to allocate a free basic water allowance to each household. He also confirmed that there has been no decision taken on the exact level of this allocation or on the charging methodology and that these issues would be addressed in the proposals being developed by the Minister and the department. Haydon believes it would be unfair to levy

a flat fee on each household as this would be seen as a tax on the use of water rather than as a ‘pay as you use’ service. “Chambers Ireland has campaigned for many years for the introduction of water charges for domestic users and is firmly of the opinion that this is best implemented through the introduction of metering. Consumers will not fully appreciate the value of a resource such as water and the costs of providing an efficient water management system without proper and adequate metering. Quite simply, if you are being asked to pay for a product it is reasonable to expect that your use of it is controlled and measured.”

ALLOWANCES NEED TO BE MADE

There is speculation over whether people whose water comes from group schemes would face additional charges. The Chair of the Chambers Ireland’s Ratepayer’s and Local Government Council calls for allowance to be made for households who have already invested in their own water management system and also for businesses that are highly water dependent – such as hotels and tourist related activities – as well as pensioners and the unemployed. However, Labour Spokesperson on Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Joanna Tuffy, says there are more important issues that need to be dealt with, even within

the context of the provision of water services. “For example, as the European Environment Agency has pointed out, there is a massive problem with leakage in our water systems with as much as 40 per cent of treated water going to waste in some areas,” she says. “In addition, the level to which alternative sources of water are being used is very low. There should be encouragement for communities and for people to use grey water, treated waste water and harvested rain water.”

PRIVATISATION FEARS

Critics of water metering have described it as a precursor to the privatisation of Ireland’s water services. Fine Gael supports the creation of a new water entity for capital investment, explains the party’s Local Government Spokesperson, Phil Hogan, who also confirms that the party is opposed to privatisation of the water network and doubts if rates would ever cover the full cost of expenditure on water infrastructure. “There will always be some exchequer support required to cover the full cost of expenditure on water infrastructure,” he insists. Haydon says the introduction of regional water companies would just add another layer of bureaucracy to the system and that as long as local authorities were trying to recover the costs of providing the service rather than making a profit, costs to domestic users would be kept lower. “We would need to keep an eye on this

John Gormley TD, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

space as local authorities have sub-contracted waste collection to commercial companies and VAT may now be applicable to such costs. If local authorities decided to sub-contract water management to commercial companies, controls would be required to supervise the system, in particular health and safety regulations.” The Government has said it plans to commence the roll out of water meters next year. “The capital costs of introducing the metering programme are estimated at €500 million over three years,” adds Haydon. “However, the clock has not yet started and it

Water­serviCes­investment­Programme­2010-2012

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In April, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley TD, published his Department’s Water Services Investment Programme for the period 2010-2012. Stressing the importance of water services as a crucial infrastructure, the Minister indicated that the Programme would ‘build on the success of the past’ and ‘provide the necessary platform to steer the sector in the optimal direction over the next three years.’ The Programme comprises just over 130 contracts and water conservation projects in progress with a value of about E1 billion, some 340 contracts to be progressed to construction over the period 2010-2012 with a value of E1.8 billion and some 190 schemes and water conservation projects on which planning work will continue. With

the changed economic climate and the finalisation of the first cycle of River Basin Management Plans, the new programme aims to prioritise projects that target environmental compliance issues. It also fully supports economic and employment growth as envisaged in the Government’s policy document ‘Building Ireland’s Smart Economy - A Framework for Sustainable Economic Revival.’

Investment under the Programme will also support over 4,000 jobs in the construction sector this year and will support many additional jobs in manufacturing and in operating and maintaining new infrastructure post completion. The plan outlines provisions of crucial infrastructure in the next three years and also emphasises a greater focus on water conservation measures.

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