Agreement has been reached between Fine Gael and Labour on water charges, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan confirmed last night. He said it would be announced after today’s Cabinet meeting and following further discussion with all members of the Cabinet.
Mr Hogan declined to give details of the deal but said that some of it was in the public domain already, in apparent reference to the dropping of the standing charge.
“We want to ensure that families are protected, that the lower-income people and particularly fixed-income people are going to receive the maximum protection, but all we can do is that I, as Minister, will make a submission on behalf of Government to the regulator and the regulator ultimately has to sign off on these matters.”
Agreement
Taoiseach Enda Kenny also told reporters last night that he expected agreement would be reached today and that there would be measures to protect "the elderly and people with medical needs who require additional water" as well people living in areas with boil water notices and those on fixed incomes.
The Irish Times has learned that recipients of the State and invalidity pensions and the disability allowance will receive about €100 from the State to help defray their annual water charge under the proposals.
Senior Fine Gael sources said the party had rejected Labour demands for “extensive waivers” for a very large segment of social welfare recipients. The “hardship remediation package” and the scrapping of a €50 standing charge has been cast by Labour sources as something of a victory, after bitter Cabinet exchanges before Easter.
Unfair burden
Fine Gael sources said the original proposal from Labour would have seen an unfair burden placed on low- and middle-income working families.
The average annual fee to be agreed today will be €240. However, it is recognised on both sides that fees for households bearing the full charge will increase because of the hardship package.
This is because the Government is still committed to realising some €500 million in revenues
With a deal done, any special aid for qualifying welfare claimants will be added to their State payments. This approach found favour over the alternative of making deductions at source from the quarterly bill for water.
