Politics

New water charges for business and farmers will be excessive, claims former minister

Sean Canney has called on the Government to intervene but Uisce Éireann has said that annual increase will be less than €250 for vast majority of users

Water charges will increase for non-domestic users in October. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Water charges will increase for non-domestic users in October. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Harry McGee
Sun Aug 18 2024 - 12:55

Proposed increases in water charges for non-domestic users from October will excessively penalise small businesses and farmers, an Independent Dáil deputy has claimed.

Seán Canney, a TD for Galway East and former minister of State for the Office of Public Works, has called on the Government to intervene with Uisce Éireann and instruct it not to impose the new charging regime.

The new tariffs for water and wastewater will be introduced on October 1st. The standing charge per connection will double from €43 to €83 and there will be a 15 per cent increase in water charges for Band 1 users (who use a volume of less than 1,000 square meters), with other ranges of increases for larger users.

Mr Canney said that increases in electricity and other costs had already made trading difficult for small business and farmers.

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“Uisce Éireann is now intending to increase the cost of water to these businesses at the wrong time.

“The doubling of the standing charges for water connections will place an excessive cost on farmers, especially suckler and dry stock farmers.

“Farmers’ income has fallen, as confirmed in the latest Teagasc survey, and small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open,” he said.

The changes were approved by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) earlier this year.

Irish Water said there had been no update to tariffs for business customers since they were last set in 2019. It also pointed to a CRU information note that said the majority of customers will see bill increases of less than €250 annually.

It also said that customers facing larger increases could also benefit from a bill-capping arrangement, if the cost of the increased tariff is €750 more.

It said that 86 per cent of customers (162,905 connections) would see annual bill increases of less than €250; that 5.4 per cent would see annual bill increases of between €250 and €500; that 7.4 per cent would see annual bill increases of between €500 and €5,000; and less than 1 per cent would have bill increases of €5,000 or more.

However, Mr Canney said the increases would have a serious impact on some users and could be the “last straw”.

“We may see further closure of small family businesses and the strong movement away from farming. The Government need to intervene as a matter of urgency,” he said.

“This is not good news for rural Ireland and the rural economy will bear the brunt of these unnecessary and ill-timed increases”.

Harry McGee

Harry McGee

Harry McGee is a Political Correspondent with The Irish Times