Budget 2017: €300m finances ‘black hole’ looms; No budget provision for water charges abolition

A black hole of up to €300m is looming in the public finances next year, as the Government has not made provision for the abolition of water charges in its Budget 2017 figures.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe confirmed to the Irish Examiner last night that no allowance for the permanent axing of water charges is included in his numbers, adding that such a decision would affect the budget arithmetic.

It is significant, as Fianna Fáil, on whose acquiesence the minority government relies, has called for the scrapping of water charges and for the provision of water services to come from general taxation.