Taoiseach fails to rule out cutting off water to homes

Enda Kenny has failed to rule out people having their water supplies cut off if they fail to pay their bills.

However, he sought to reassure local authority workers that no jobs would be lost in the transfer to the system, even though an independent report for the Department of the Environment says otherwise.

The Taoiseach faced a barrage of questions on the issue yesterday as the Dáil resumed following its Easter recess.

His comments came as one Government senator claimed the department had made a “bags” of the announcement.

Labour senator John Whelan told TV3 that the department was now guilty of a “trio of cock-ups” after the household charge fiasco and septic tank controversy.

A number of other Labour TDs and senators privately criticised Phil Hogan, the environment minister, at a meeting of the Labour parliamentary party in Leinster House.

“Are people pissed off? The obvious answer to that question is yes,” said one Labour TD.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin branded the Government’s handling of the issue “shambolic”.

He urged Mr Kenny to explain how much householders would be charged when billing began in 2014. He also questioned the job implications of responsibility for services being transferred from the 34 city and county councils to a new state company, Irish Water.

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald called on Mr Kenny to guarantee that nobody would be cut off once billing began.

Mr Kenny refused to give any guarantee. Later, he tried to offer reassurance by saying all public utilities had a “regime in place to deal with people who have difficulties”.

He said householders would be given a free allowance and only be charged for water used above that threshold.

“It’s very important that people understand that good and careful and prudent use of water like that should not result in anybody getting into the difficulty that you refer to.”

However, he again failed to rule out householders being cut off if they did not pay. He said it was “daft” to ask what the charges would be when billing would not begin until 2014. He said no jobs would be lost in local authorities in the transfer to the new system.

A report by PwC for the department suggests that when the transfer is completed by 2018, the numbers employed in water service provision “will be significantly lower than the 4,278 deployed today”.