David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It happened because water infrastructure had been nominally rated up to that point. It was just money in, money out. Through no fault of the local authorities, the Valuation Office had no choice but to rate the water infrastructure. Waterford services the south east with wastewater treatment plants, but the apportionment is not based on those. Rather, it is based on population. The change was a kick to some local authorities.