Letter to the editor water charges we listened

We received this letter from Minister Alan Kelly last week, in which he says: Water charges: ‘we listened’...

Water charges: ‘we listened’

Editor,

Water is a precious resource for every family, household and business in Westmeath. And yet for all of its importance in our everyday lives, to date in this country we have been very poor at ensuring that the water we drink or wash in every day is safe, clean and drinkable. We haven’t been investing enough in our water, and it shows.

In Westmeath and across the country, we have seen the effect of chronic under-investment in our water infrastructure over many years.

These problems demonstrate how, despite the best efforts of local authorities, the old system of what effectively amounted to 34 different water systems just didn’t work. And just as we have one ESB to invest in and secure our electricity supply, we will now have one single publicly-owned utility that can raise the money and make the investment to provide the quality water supply we need.

We understand that while many people accept the case for such a utility, they still had serious concerns about the charging system.

In response to these, the government has this week delivered a new system of paying for water that is affordable, simple and certain.

We now have an affordable and certain charge, and a system that has been greatly simplified. Only three numbers are relevant now: €160 per year for a single-adult household, €260 for multi-adult households, and the €100 Water Conservation Grant for those who register.

We listened when people said they did not want to give their PPS numbers to Irish Water. They no longer have to do that.

We listened when people said they needed certainty around the costs they would be required to pay. The capped charges are in place for the next four years, with a provision to legislate for the further capping of measures post-2019.

We listened to worries that Irish Water could be privatised. The Oireachtas will now pass a law to ensure that if any future government tried to change this it would have to put the matter to the people through a special referendum.

And finally, we listened to people’s concerns about cronyism, bonuses and consultants’ fees in Irish Water.

Under my direction, no bonuses will now be paid to Irish Water staff in respect of 2013 and 2014, and shortly I will move to replace the company’s board with an entirely new one that combines Irish Water and its parent company, Ervia. A new ‘bill-payers forum’ will be set up to provide valuable feedback from customers.

The newly-simplified system also has the element of conservation at its core. With a meter, households will have the opportunity to pay less than the capped bill and they can use the Water Conservation Grant to make changes to avail of lower charges.

Taken together, these steps ensure that we will every customer of Irish Water gets a firm, fair and affordable basis on which to move forward, with a national water utility that will be a world leader in its field and that we can be proud of.

This is a new beginning for Irish Water and the key principles behind it are certainty, simplicity and affordability.

As a Labour minister, I have worked along with my colleague Joan Burton to ensure that the new water charges are affordable as possible.

Even when the charges take effect, measures announced in last month’s budget means that Irish families will still be better off next year.

For example, a single worker on average earnings gains almost €8 per week through budget changes, such as the cut to income tax. Given that the new water charge will range on average between €1.15 and €3 per week, this means people will be better off to the tune of around €5 on a weekly basis.

At the start of this process, the government had two options: to create the only company capable of delivering water infrastructure for our citizens or to ignore the problems of future generations and let water shortages become a reality for our children.

We chose the former.

I believe the vast majority of people aspiring for a better future for Ireland will too.

Yours,

Alan Kelly,

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.