Sinn Féin spokesperson on Water, and former member of the Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Water Services, Eoin Ó Broin TD, has said that Sinn Féin is opposed to the introduction of domestic water charges by the back door.
The Dublin Mid-West TDs’ comments were made in response to a newspaper report indicating that the government is preparing to introduce a charge for so-called excessive use that was legislated for by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in 2017.
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Brow, is aware that work began under the previous government on draft regulations for excessive water use charges, this was undertaken as part of the commitment under the previous programme for government. This previous work was reflected in the Ministerial Briefing (recently published) he received upon taking office.
The Minister is not giving consideration at this time to bringing in such charges. No proposal has been brought to the Minister in this regard and charges do not form part of the current programme for government.
The minister is focused on implementing the programme for government and in particular he is focused on increasing the delivery of more homes which is his highest priority.
Sinn Féin's Eoin O'Broin has said
“Sinn Féin is opposed to the introduction of domestic water charges ‘by the back door’. It was one of the key reasons why we voted against the final report of the Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Water Services in 2017 and the Water Services Act in the same year that gave effect to the proposal.
“The claim that the introduction of a charge for so-called excessive water usage is a water conservation measure is utterly false. The government's real intention will be to introduce the principle of charging for domestic water services as the first step in water charges being applied to all households.
“The government has no mandate to introduce such a charge. They said nothing about it during the general election campaign, and it is not contained in the Programme for Government. Instead they are trying to introduce it by stealth.
“As a former member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Water Services, we spent considerable time hearing from experts on the issue of water conservation.
“The evidence is very clear. Domestic water charges do not reduce water consumption over time. Rather they cause water poverty for those on low incomes who are unable to afford the inevitable increasing charges. Pensioners living in older properties are particularly vulnerable to the risk of water poverty if any form of charge is introduced.
“Many of the households that have above average water usage levels are not actually consuming more. Rather their homes are older or have building defects causing significant leakages.
“If they don’t have the funds to undertake what can be very significant structural upgrades or repairs or if they are renters, is the government seriously saying they are going to punish them with a so-called excessive use charge?
“It is also clear that any such scheme will cost more to administer than it will raise, making their entire exercise pointless.
“If the government was serious about water conservation, they would have fully implemented the recommendations of Chapter 5 of the Future Funding of Water Services Report. That Chapter set out ambitious actions to improve water conservation.
“These included expanding the First Fix service provided by Uisce Éireann, developing a proactive cross Departmental strategy on conservation with a focus on education and awareness; retrofitting; stronger building standards and regulations for all new residential builds.
“The government would also be funding Uisce Éireann to accelerate their own leakage reduction programme which is the single biggest cause of water loss in the domestic water system.
“The fact that they haven’t done any of this shows that they are just not serious about the issue of water conservation. People already pay for their domestic water services through general taxation. Introducing a domestic water charge is a form of double taxation.
“It will do nothing to reduce water wastage. It will do nothing to improve conservation. But it will punish modest income working people and pensioners who will have to bear the burden of the charge. This is why Sinn Féin will oppose its introduction and fight the charge tooth and nail.”
