PEOPLE WHO PREVIOUSLY paid their water bills will not be getting their money back following the new water charge recommendations today.
Local Government Minister Simon Coveney said this evening that it was ‘Fine Gael’s view’ that people who have paid money to Irish Water were doing what was right at the time.
The expert commission on water charges earlier today recommended that “normal use” of household water should be paid for out of general taxation.
Speaking on RTÉ News, Coveney was asked whether this meant that people who paid bills over the past two years would get their money back.
“No, I don’t think so,” he responded.
Certainly the Fine Gael view on this is that, anybody who paid their charges, they were paying what they were legally required to pay at the time and they should not be disadvantaged in any way.
Coveney added that he also felt that people who hadn’t paid bills issues to them “still owe that money”.
Reacting to the overall recommendations, Coveney welcomed them and said they’re about ensuring that the taxpayer isn’t paying for people who waste water.
“I don’t think it’s fair to ask the taxpayer to effectively pay for someone to leave the taps on or have their sprinkler in the garden or wash their car every second day,” he said.
The report will now be considered by a Special Oireachtas Committee which has a March deadline.
Political reaction to today’s recommendations has been mixed.
Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson Barry Cowen TD noted that water charges as previously introduced and subsequently suspended will not be reintroduced. The other aspects, he says, need to be considered:
This is a detailed report and will require due consideration. Following an initial reading of the report it is clear there are a lot of issued that need to be clarified and addressed.
Sinn Féin has said that there are “no surprises” in the report. Eoin Ó Broin TD welcomed the acknowledgement from the report that general domestic water usage should be paid for through general taxation.
He did not, however, support the recommendation “of a tariff for so-called ‘excessive’ usage”.
“This would be the thin edge of the wedge for across the board water charges in the future,” O’Broin said.
He sentiments were echoed by AAA-PBP’s Paul Murphy TD:
The Green Party has described the commission’s recommendations as “sensible and fair”.
“We hope that all parties can now work together to make a decision on water charges that is fair, affordable and prioritises the conservation of, and the investment in, our water and wastewater services,” said party leader Eamon Ryan.
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