45% drop in numbers paying water bills

Irish Water managed to collect just a quarter of the money it billed customers in the first three months of the year.

It comes as the utility faces criticism that it is now going to have to compete for funding in the budget as it is no longer able to fund itself due to the sharp fall in the number of people paying their bills.

According to latest figures released by the utility, customers paid €18.3m during the fifth billing cycle. This is down from €33.4m for the previous quarter — a drop of 45%.