Fine Gael U-turn on talks of scrapping water bills

Fine Gael has been forced into a U-turn on suggestions it is willing to talk about water charges after Irish Water said that axing the bills will threaten its entire existence.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday said that scrapping Irish Water would be “a costly and seriously historic mistake”.

On Tuesday night, Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney suggested the move was possible.

He was responding to reports that Fianna Fáil may insist Irish Water is removed in return for supporting a minority Fine Gael government.

The Cork South Central TD said Fine Gael “would be willing to talk about water, it’s a big issue for people”.

Asked about the comments yesterday, during his first media event since the general election vote became clear, Mr Kenny said that removing charges or scrapping Irish Water would be “a costly and seriously historic mistake”.

“Simon was correct in what he said, that Fine Gael wants to move on and form a government. Part of that is to listen to like-minded parties,” said Mr Kenny.

“But I want to say in respect of Irish Water, I think it would be a seriously costly, seriously historic mistake to remove it. It’s a fundamental issue for Fine Gael.”

Mr Kenny was speaking at an event at Collins Barracks in Dublin City.

Following the remarks from his party leader, Mr Coveney took to the airwaves in a bid to clarify what he meant.

“Let me be clear, we are not proposing to do away with water bills. We are not proposing to do away with Irish Water,” said Mr Coveney.

“People should pay their water bills and I will be paying it.”

The comments came as Irish Water told the Irish Examiner that any changes to the existing charges regime would undermine the group’s entire structure, including its funding model, and cannot be undone.

A spokesperson for Irish Water separately said that 61% of customers have paid their bills, and that 90% of owed money has been paid to date.

Meanwhile, despite the future of Irish Water becoming a key post-election issue, all of the main parties have confirmed they will not be refunding people who have already paid their bills if the entity is scrapped.

Fine Gael refused to address the issue, with a spokesperson insisting that Irish Water will continue unchanged.

Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin both said money is not available to refund existing bill payers.

Despite Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin saying it would be “unconscionable” for people not to be refunded, his party, Labour, declined to comment.

The Social Democrats and the Green Party both said they would repay the money, with the former confirming that this relates to any costs in excess of the conservation grant.

While opposition parties yesterday described claims it would cost €7bn to scrap Irish Water as “fantasy” and an “attempt to scare people”, an Irish Water spokesperson said if charges are removed, the State will lose €1.6bn by 2021.

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