Firms’ fury at water charges

SOME of Cork's leading companies are up in arms over increased charges linked to the new waste water treatment facility in Carrigrennan, Little Island.

Last night an IBEC senior executive, Donal Buckley, said the situation raised serious concerns about how charges are spread across the commercial and domestic users.

Companies have been hit with higher charges as a result of the new treatment plant, said Mr Buckley.

But the new level of charges contained “transparency” on how the council decided on the new charging structures, he said.

Companies feared the new charging system was “open ended and a cheque book” for the local authority to impose unjustified charges on the business community, Mr Buckley said.

IBEC has no problem supporting user charges provided they are spread equitably.

But there was no consultation with the business community and that was a major issue for IBEC members, he said.

The situation to date on Carrigrennan is that companies face huge increases in charges, and they have no way of knowing how they were compiled.

Most of the major companies have been affected.

These include Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Yves Rocher Manufacturing Ireland, DD Williamson Ireland Ltd, Dairygold, FMC International, Pepsi, CHR Hansen, Beamish & Crawford and Heineken.

The waste water treatment plant at Carrigrennan was developed by Cork City Council at a capital cost of over €100 million to comply with stringent EU water quality standards.

It services both the domestic and non-domestic sectors. Now the business sector believes it is being asked to carry the can to recoup the high capital cost.

The business community in Cork feel that they are already paying for the service as a substantial portion of the income derived from rates is intended to fund water services. These rates are only applied to the non-domestic sector.

Denise Barnett of Dairygold echoed the concerns of others over the one-sided approach by the local authority to the new charges.

"The massive increases in water charges without a corresponding decrease in rates seems to indicate a disproportionate contribution from business."

The cost impact will have a major negative impact on competitiveness and employment, she said.