Water tax aid won’t help all jobless

Some of the country’s most vulnerable households will miss out on help with their water charges despite a range of payment concessions announced which include tax breaks for the wealthiest earners.

In a move that will cost €42m, the well-flagged €100 addition to the Household Benefits Package, paid as €25 every three months, will benefit 415,000 householders, including the over-70s and low-income pensioners.

In an additional support costing €24m, €100 per year is to be paid to all Fuel Allowance recipients in a move that will help 238,000 households reliant on payments such as the Long-term Jobseekers Allowance and the One-Parent Family Payment.

However, tax breaks will also be provided for working families who will be able to claim 20% relief on their paid water bills up to a maximum of €100. A bill would need to come to €500 — just above the unmetered charge currently set for a household with four adults — to benefit from the maximum relief.

The measures received a muted welcome as they still mean there are no absolute exemptions, even for the most vulnerable households, and anomalies mean some struggling households will get no help.

People have to be jobless for 15 months to be classed as long-term unemployed and eligible to apply for the fuel allowance, so anyone who is out of work for a shorter period will not get help with the bill.

Around 190,000 people are classed as short-term unemployed in a given year. The Department of Social Protection said they were a mix of young people living at home, people unemployed for very short periods, and people with spouses or partners in work, as well as those who are out of work for more than a year.

It was not possible to say how many had been the main breadwinner in a household now under serious financial pressure.

The department also conceded that some well-off households could receive double supports with their water charges as all over-70s are eligible to receive the Household Benefits Package regardless of income. That means someone over the age of 70 on a large pension that attracts income tax could get both the €25 quarterly payment towards their bill, plus tax relief up to €100.

The Right2Water campaign has criticised the measures, saying: “In a panicked response to Saturday’s Right2Water demonstration, the Government today added a new anomaly to its crumbling water tax edifice by introducing a tax credit and extending the Household Benefits package — leaving hundreds of thousands of low earners who do not earn enough to pay tax, and will not qualify for the Household Benefits package, empty-handed.”