‘Disingenuous and crass nonsense’

The body representing small and medium businesses across the country has said Jobs Minister Richard Bruton’s description of Irish Water as a "commercial" operation is "disingenuous and crass nonsense".

Isme said it approved of having to pay for water because it is a scarce resource. However, it said describing Irish Water as commercial “is the minister and the Government’s excuse for not having to deal with the madness of paying bonuses to people to run a public utility”.

The comments came after it emerged Irish Water staff are to be paid bonuses of up to 19%, even if it is considered that their work performance needs to improve.