Poor excuses for inefficiencies don’t hold water

Bailing out local authorities will simply prolong bad planning, management and profligacy.

The article by investigative reporter Conor Ryan in Tuesday’s Irish Examiner made for very interesting reading. Simply put, the money we will pay in water charges will “go down the drain” as it will be used to pay off legacy debts.

There is, apparently, over one half billion euro worth of debt in local authorities which also includes debt for land purchases and housing loans. The article didn’t state specifically how much of that legacy debt related to water network upgrading. However, whatever it is, it will be transferred to Irish Water and you can bet it will be maximised.