2-year wait for full benefit of water charge tax relief
The relief on water bills — which will start arriving at homes in the new year — is “unlikely to be provided at source” Finance Minister Michael Noonan said, in response to Dáil questions.
He said details of how this would work were still being finalised, but the relief — worth up to €100 for a family paying a €500 annual water bill — could be claimed the following year.
This would be spread over a 12-month period and would therefore mean that it could take two years before a billpayer sees the full benefit of the relief.
After a number of budget announcements failed to quell public anger over the charge, Mr Noonan, along with Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tánaiste Joan Burton, and Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin, are expected to discuss ways of easing the burden of charges.
“Everything is being considered,” according to a source with knowledge of the process, who believes a number of changes to the system will be announced in the coming weeks.
One of the changes being considered is the extension of the child free allowance to teenagers aged 18, and possibly 19. At present, the 21,000 litre a year allowance is available to young people up to age 18.
Under current plans, the free allowance — which allows for one shower and one toilet flush a day — will be unavailable to children aged 16 and 17 if they have finished full-time education.
It will be provided on the same basis as Children’s Allowance, which stops once a teen over 16 finishes school, if they’re not in college.
The Irish Examiner reported in August that parents of at least 25,000 secondary school students will be hit with €102 per child in water charges.
The National Parents Council-Post Primary has called on the Government to exempt all school-goers from the charge and said the extra burden could force poorer students to drop out of school. It said second- level pupils who turn 18 fall between two stools of not benefiting from allowances available for children, while not being entitled to adult social welfare — such as dole or rent allowance — unless they give up school.
A number of Fine Gael TDs have said in recent weeks that the high water costs expected by families with grown-up children is of major concern to their constituents.
Irish Water would not comment last night on reports that it had been asked by Government to draw up an “easy pay plan” which would allow households to pay bills in installments of around €5-€10 a week.
Further clarity is expected over the coming weeks on the issue of who should pay to fix leaking pipes.
It was reported that householders will be liable for the cost of repairs to any waste water pipes between their property and public sewers.
In most cases, this would require a home-owner to seek a “road opening” license from the local authority, which could cost up to €1,000.
It’s understood this is one of the issues to be considered by Government, which will make fresh recommendations to Irish Water in the coming weeks, that will be subject to approval by the Energy Regulator.
