John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wonder whether water charges will be used to pay off huge legacy debts incurred by councils over the years, for example, overruns on contract failures on various capital projects. My information is that many local authorities have already had to borrow money to settle contractual claims and legal disputes. For example, in Waterford city, substantial legal costs and settlements of €4 million were paid to a contractor following a dispute in 2010. We were recently told by Irish Water that it will take on between €100 million and €130 million in debt from uncollected commercial water charges. Can the Minister give any indication of the extent of liabilities which will be transferred to Irish Water for debts such as unpaid development levies or loans various councils drew down for expensive investment projects on budgets that went by the wayside?

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