‘Flawed’ data behind cut in children’s water quota

The energy regulator is under pressure to explain what evidence it used to justify a reduction in the free water allowance for children when charges come in next year, after claims the decision was based on "biased" or "flawed" research.

Fianna Fáil’s environment spokesman, Barry Cowen, said the regulator must explain if the figures provided to it by Irish Water went “unchallenged” or were taken “at face value” after the Economic and Social Research Institute cast doubt over their accuracy.

The Commission for Energy Regulation last week accepted a proposal by Irish Water that the annual free allowance for anyone under 18 should be 21,000 litres — or one toilet flush and one short shower a day.

This is despite previous commitments from the Government that children would be “effectively free” because they would have a free water allowance of 38,000 litres a year.

The CER said its revised allowance was based on “actual consumption levels at meters installed by Irish Water.” However, the ESRI, which independently reviewed Irish Water’s analysis, said the figures may be biased.

It said the data — collected by Irish Water from 1,650 households which already had meters installed — may have omitted a number of important factors that should have been taken into account.

The think-tank said it could not stand over Irish Water’s data because it did not know if it was taken from a representative sample of households taking into account income, social class, age, and whether parents had jobs — factors which have proved in other countries to have an impact on water usage.

It also said the householders sampled may have been conserving water because meters had been installed, and that the sample only covered a three-month period, meaning it did not take in seasonal peaks in water consumption.

Mr Cowen said he wrote to the regulator chief, Paul McGowan, before the CER proposed water charges were published last Thursday, asking for the data to be debated before the Oireachtas Environment Committee before the proposals were published.

“I’m looking for him to publish forthwith the relevant document received from Irish Water to substantiate their claim in relation to average usages,” said Mr Cowen.

He is seeking a meeting of the committee to discuss the proposals before the CER’s public consultation is completed at the end of August.

“The regulator is supposed to act in the best interest and on behalf of the public and I want to know if it carried out its own analysis and research, or if the figures from Irish Water went unchallenged and were accepted at face value,” said Mr Cowan.

The regulator last week set annual assessed charges of €176 for one adult and €102 for every adult after that, which will apply to homes without water meters and for six months after a meter is installed.

After that, charges will be applied at €4.88 per 1,000 litres, with a 30,000-litre free allowance per household and 21,000 litres per child.

A CER spokesperson said it is satisfied that 21,000 is the most “appropriate” figure based on metering data, and that the regulator was happy to discuss this before the Oireachtas committee if asked to do so.