TODAY BRINGS CERTAINTY ON WATER CHARGES - KENNY

Posted on November 19, 2014 5:15 PM   |   Permanent Link   

Dublin Bay North Labour TD Sean Kenny has said that today beings certainty on the matter of water charges.

"I am sorry that this matter has dragged out for so long but I am pleased that today finally sees all of the matters and concerns that people had around water charges clarified."

"Irish Water has a very important part to play in the delivery of proper Irish water services for the country. More than 20,000 people are on 'boil water' notices and almost a million more depend on drinking water supplies that are at risk of failing the required standards. Almost half the water treated - at significant cost - runs off in leaks and is unaccounted for. In Dublin, more than 800 kilometres of pipe is over 100 years old and there is insufficient supply for the Greater Dublin Area. Most major European cities have a spare capacity of 15% to 20%. Dublin has a surplus capacity of only 1% to 4%."

"All of this is fact. Ireland needs to sort out its water networks, and it needs to do it as soon as possible, or else they will fail. As a nation, we do not pay enough money to do this, and so water charges are now required. This was also found to be the case by the Troika, when they examined Ireland's finances back in the dark days of 2010. The Troika may be gone home, but their recommendations, that Ireland signed up to, still have to be followed up on."
"In order to do this, there will now be capped annual charges. These will be €160 for single adult households and €260 for all other households until 1 January 2019. There will be specific new laws that will allow for capped charges to continue being set from 2019 onwards. All eligible households will receive a Water Conservation Grant of €100 per year, which means that the net cost to single adult households will be €60. For other households it will be no more than €160."

"The children's allowance remains at 21,000 litres per annum and will apply to all persons resident in a property aged under 18 meaning children will continue to go free. PPS Numbers will not be required for registration. If you have already given one, it will be deleted. The system is based on self-declaration and appropriate audit. The starting date for domestic water charging is being pushed back to 1 January 2015, with first bills to issue from the first week of April 2015."

"Even with water charges, people will be better off from January. This is because the Budget for 2015, just recently announced, provides changes in income tax and the USC, which will have a positive impact on people's pay for the first time in a budget in quite some years I urge people to consider the facts and to put aside their anger and frustration, as understandable as anger and frustration are."

"With the recent budget, and despite water charges, Budget 2015 is the first budget in quite a few years that will actually see an improvement in people's take home pay. It marks the end of the period of austerity, and I hope more of the same austerity ending measures are produced for Budget 2016 next year."