Kelly stays vague on penalty for unpaid water charges

Environment Minister Alan Kelly said that the days of threatening those who refuse to pay water charges with a cut in their supply are over — but refused to be drawn on what sanctions await those who ignore their Irish Water bills.

Mr Kelly made the comments as he and Irish Water managing director John Tierney visited the utility’s call centre in Mahon in Cork.

“I feel the day of going out and saying that people’s water is going to be cut off or reduced to a trickle is over. I’d like to say that to people across the country. We want people to comply, obviously we want people to engage with Irish Water. We want them to become customers of Irish Water,” said Mr Kelly.