No water meters for 20% of homes

At least one in five homes will not be able to fitted with water meters, the Government has admitted as a minister apologised for “scaring” people with confusion on the issue.

The revelation from Transport Minister Leo Varadkar caps a week of conflicting statements and uncertainty over the controversial initiative.

The number of households that will pay a standing charge rather than a metered one is far higher than embattled Environment Minister Phil Hogan had previously indicated.

“There will be about 20% of older houses and apartments that won’t be able to be metered in the normal way,” Mr Varadkar told RTÉ’s The Week In Politics.

“What they do in other countries is that they estimate the charges based on the size of the house and the number of people in it. But that is something that will have to be worked out at a later stage.”

Mr Varadkar admitted the Government had badly handled the situation and apologised for the air of uncertainty regarding the issue.

“I do acknowledge that there has been confusion on this issue. I apologise for that.

“I know the people are struggling with bills at the moment and that the cost of living is increasing, and certainly nobody in the Government wants to scare people about charges that, let’s face it, are not going to come in to play for over two years.”

The revelation will further anger Labour backbenchers who have been highly critical of the way Mr Hogan has dealt with the issue, especially as it comes so soon after the row over the way the household tax was implemented.

The environment department sparked the confusion a week ago when officials said householders would pay for the installation of meters. Taoiseach Enda Kenny then contradicted this, saying a loan from the National Pension Reserve Fund would cover the cost, while Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore insisted that no decision on the meter costs had been taken.

Mr Hogan then tried to bring clarity to the situation, but ended up leaving many questions unanswered.

Householders still do not know how much they will be charged for water, or how many homes will be fitted with meters by the target date of 2014.

Householders with meters will pay about €800 in standing charges over the next 20 years to pay back the €450m loan the Government is taking out to meet the cost.

It is still not clear what the level of free water allowance householders will receive, or at what point supplies will be cut off to those who do not pay their charges.

The Government also appeared confused as to how many local authority workers would lose their jobs as a result of the planned new agency, Irish Water, being created in the autumn.