Fine Gael wants graded fines for water wasting and leaks

Households leaking or wasting more water than others will face higher penalties under proposals by Fine Gael, which the party insists are needed to comply with EU laws.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney has now openly signalled that the Government wants a graduated fines system, after Fine Gael members on an Oireachtas Committee this week mooted the idea.

The committee will next week receive final legal advice before its members are due to sign off on recommendations which, at present, will end water charges and any new domestic metering.

But disagreement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is threatening to destabilise their Government support pact. Mr Coveney has written a strongly-worded letter to committee chairman Pádraig Ó Céidigh, with major concerns about the final recommendations.

He says the committee “resiled” on issues and, while insisting he will not interfere, has “many concerns” on three areas linked with EU law on “the principles of cost recovery and the polluter pays”.

The ambiguous wording around penalties will make it difficult to recover costs for water, he wrote. The minister also wants a graduated fines system, where the more you waste, the more you pay.

“Nor could a flat penalty system for wilful wastage be argued to discourage wastage by the households wasting water — any charge applicable above an agreed threshold must be on a volumetric basis, otherwise households marginally above the threshold would be penalised to the same extent as households consuming at volumes well beyond,” he told the chairman.

Changes on metering also worry the minister, noting that the European Commission says metering must be the basis for charging for excessive use. But a decision by the committee for its report to “resile” from a position where new dwellings and refurbished homes are metered is at odds with Brussels, warns the minister. He says if this was the case, half a million homes would get meters over the next two decades. Not using meters on new builds was “nonsensical”, argued the minister.

Mr Coveney called on Senator Ó Cédigh to ensure the final report is subject to legal scrutiny by a European law expert.

The intervention by Mr Coveney angered committee members, who claim the group’s recommendations will end water charges and new metering and bring about a referendum on water.

Sinn Féin’s Eoin O’Broin said the minister was trying to “unsettle” members before a final vote on the report next Tuesday. Afterwards, it is set to be debated and voted on in the Dáil.

Solidarity TD Paul Murphy called the minister’s act “unprecedented political interference”. Writing to Mr Ó Céidigh, the deputy referred to the minister’s desire for graduated water penalties: “The minister’s reference to ‘a volume related levy’ which has never been used at the committee illustrates that the minister is attempting to maintain a usage charge for water — which a majority of the committee has opposed.”