Q&A: Frozen water charges, outstanding bills, and the question of wastage

A Q&A on the expert commission looking at the future funding of water

What difference will this new report on water services and water charges make to what households pay or not?

The expert commission’s recommendations, including that normal household usage is paid for by the State, will now be considered by a special Oireachtas Committee. They will have their own deliberations and ultimately make final recommendations to the Dáil by next March, at which point the future of water charges will be voted on. Charges have been frozen until then through legislation as well as under the Fine Gael-Fianna Fail government support deal.

If the recommendations of the commission go ahead and are approved by the Oireachtas, most homes would have their water up to a certain allowance paid by the exchequer.

Charges would only be applied for wastage amounts above normal usage.

So what will be considered ‘wastage’ or above ‘normal usage’, as suggested by the expert commission?

The commission’s report points out that normal domestic and personal usage by households of water is considered to include personal washing, toilet flushing, drinking, cooking, clothes washing, dishwashing, waste disposal, and house cleaning.

Report recommends people should pay for 'excessive or wasteful use' of water only https://t.co/P2OmNdjjtQ pic.twitter.com/dI4xlCy9vu

— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) November 29, 2016

However, it also suggests that a more detailed analysis be done on the precise allowance that would be allowed. But there are concerns that a so-called ‘wastage charge’ could essentially lead to water charges being introduced by the back door, a position that would reignite protests and opposition once again.

Does that mean that normal water usage would be set in stone for a year and families would know what to expect?

No, not necessarily. The amount you could use free for showers or washing etc might change over time. The report suggests that the free allowance would in part be set by the energy regulator as well as contributions from the public water forum.

Furthermore, all this could be subject to “budgetary policy”. It’s unclear immediately what this means, although it could be interpreted that the government of the day may decide or help set what amount comes from the exchequer for water services and what amounts need to come from charges themselves.

With a new system now being set up, what about refunds for the two-thirds of users who have already paid or the chances of others being pursued for outstanding bills?

The report does not deal with this in detail. It does deal with the issue of ‘equity and fairness’, saying that measures should be put in place to give effect to the commitment that those who have paid their water bills to date “will be treated no less favourably than those who have not”.

This essentially means those who have paid will not be left disadvantaged, as the current government has promised. Housing Minister Simon Coveney went further last night, telling RTÉ’s Six One News that money should be recouped from those who had not paid. But he stressed there would be refunds for those who had.

There is still concern among some people that water might be privatised in the future. Does the report address this?

Yes, it basically paves the way for a referendum on keeping water in public ownership, depending on what the Oireachtas and government decide.

Submissions to it had urged that the “alienation of Irish Water out of public ownership be made constitutionally impermissible” and the expert commission agreed.