Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

The detailed 2009 Walker review in the UK considered the cost of alternative meter installations. Internal installation was found to cost between £106 and £385 and external installation in new boxes cost between £293 and £471. Employing these numbers, and assuming that meters are rolled out to 1 million households, the total cost would range between €125 million and more than €555 million. Given the vast differences between these figures it is legitimate to ask what cost-benefit analysis, if any, the Government undertook on internal and external metering.

The Irish people are borrowing €450 million directly from the National Pensions Reserve Fund to finance the roll-out of meters and the creation of Irish Water. Over 20 years we are going to repay €800 million, almost €1 billion, on the back of taxpayers to install meters. Dr. Edgar Morgenroth of the ESRI has set out that potential water charge rates could reach between €473 and €560 per household. Simultaneously, figures from the ESRI last week revealed a potential property tax each year of about €2.50 for every €1,000 of house value or €500 for a house worth €200,000. Struggling homeowners, shocked by the scale of the charges, have looked to the Government to provide clarity only to receive confusion. Details on issues such as free allowances have not been forthcoming as the Government kicks to touch, passing the buck by transferring the problems to the, as yet, non-existent Irish Water. Further questions linger over whether private wells will be subjected to metering under the water directive, as some Commission reports indicate they will. These growing concerns, held by rural households across the country need to be fully addressed as soon as possible by the Government and the EU Commission.

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