Irish Water will delay rural plans

Badly needed water and sewerage schemes worth tens of millions of euro in West Cork could be delayed because it is feared Irish Water will prioritise projects in urban centres.

A number of county councillors from the region expressed concern yesterday, having heard that a “business case” now has to be put to Irish Water for these projects, as the new authority has total control of the budgets for all such developments.

County engineer David Keane told a meeting of councillors in Clonakilty that Irish Water now has to be consulted on ongoing projects, and effectively the local authority had “lost a considerable element of control” as Irish Water would make all the decisions from now on.

Fianna Fáil councillor Danny Crowley responded to the news by pointing to a long list of proposed schemes for the region and saying the council will have no influence over them with the new authority.

“We have a number of badly needed schemes,” said Mr Crowley. “Many parts of this county are going to be forgotten. We will be waiting and waiting for approval, especially in the peninsulas. I have huge concerns about this.”

His party colleague, Donal O’Rourke, said there were serious water supply problems in Dublin “so you can image where West Cork will be on the priority list”.

“It galls me to see that it was taxpayers which paid for the assets we have [water and sewerage facilities] and we will be passing them onto Irish Water,” said Mr O’Rourke. “You can be sure in the years ahead it will be sold on and privatised.”

He said he had paid his local property tax on the assumption that Environment Minister Phil Hogan would do as he said initially and use the money to prop up council services, rather than pumping it into Irish Water.

Fine Gael councillors defended the agency, with Noel O’Donovan saying it was unfair to criticise Irish Water as it had only existed for a few weeks.

“A lot of these issues [unfinished schemes] should have been sorted out during the Celtic Tiger,” said Mr O’Donovan. “I, for one, stand over Irish Water to sort out the mess we’re in.”

Fine Gael councillor John O’Sullivan rounded on his Fianna Fáil counterparts, saying that the money being paid back to bondholders could have paid for a lot of the schemes awaiting sanction and he described that “as the real scandal” which he laid firmly at the feet of the previous government.

He said that if, in two years’ time, Irish Water was not doing its job, he would then criticise it.

Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Murphy said managing proper water and sewerage services was always the “core business” of local authorities.

“My big worry is this is now a national organisation [making the decisions],” Mr Murphy said. “It will come down to population. When you are in peripheral areas, you will have much less voice to argue your case.”

Meanwhile, Mr Keane said the council — which now acts as agents for Irish Water — has had its water and sewerage services staff numbers seriously reduced, as many of them were seconded to the new authority.

The senior engineer said the staff could be replaced, but experience and local knowledge could not.