Domestic water charges 'must be ruled out' says Limerick TD

SINN Féin Limerick TD Maurice Quinlivan TD has warned the government not to try and revisit the introduction of domestic water charges.

The comments come as an OECD report on the state’s environmental performance highlights how decades of under investment by the state has left Ireland’s water infrastructure in a poor state. 

Deputy Quinlivan said: “The OECD report highlights inadequacies in this state’s water infrastructure. The report notes that it ‘suffers from high water losses, hot spots of low drinking water quality and inadequate wastewater treatment’.

“The report makes four recommendations on water quality and management. These include investment in the water infrastructure and in drinking water supply, addressing nutrient losses in the water supply due to agriculture, and to assess whether the funding model for water services is sufficient to cover the high investment costs and whether household water charges would be an appropriate financing source.”

The report also highlighted that only 60 per cent of the Irish population is connected to advanced wastewater treatment, the third lowest level among OECD countries.

“The debate over domestic water charges was lost in 2017 after a huge popular campaign against the then charge,” said Mr Quinlivan.

 “We know that the instinct of government parties is wholly in line with the proposals in this OECD report.  But any attempt on their part to penalise households with stealth taxes or water charges will again meet huge resistance from communities across the country.”