School water charges: why Government is to blame

CAL HYLAND (Letters, January 10) appears to imply that the school water charges debacle was part of the result of the “Nice referendum rerun” and that it could have implications for the EU Reform Treaty referendum.

While the Government is attempting to ‘wash its hands’ of the whole school water charges debacle and is trying to put the blame for it on the EU, the reality is that this whole sorry mess is a result of the Government’s own mishandling of the situation.

The EU recognised that there was a need for action to avoid a long-term deterioration of fresh water throughout the union.

The basic intention of the water framework directive was to protect water and improve its quality, as well as ensuring that risks from pollution, etc, were minimised.

The EU commenced developing water legislation as far back as 1988 and it took nearly 10 years before the commission eventually published its proposals. In October 2000, the water framework directive was signed by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. Since then it was transposed into national legalisation, with each of the countries within the EU adapting it to suit its local requirements.

Under the directive each country is expected to recover the costs of water services. In Ireland’s case, the Government successfully negotiated a derogation, which means that the costs will not have to be charged to domestic users.

In Ireland, water is provided and charged for by the relevant local authority. It is reasonable that local authorities should recover the costs of providing water where they can.

Since the 1977 budget, which removed domestic rates, our local authorities have been expected to provide a wide range of services, including water, but central government financial support ever since has not increased sufficiently to cover the increases in the costs incurred by the local authorities for the services they provide.

Schools, as non-domestic users, might be expected therefore to have to pick up these charges on the same basis as commercial organisations. However, since the running costs of our schools are supposed to be covered by central government, it seems only appropriate that the water charges should also be picked up by it.

This can be done as part of the ordinary school capitation grant.

To blame the EU for imposing water charges on schools, when ultimately this is a national decision, seems inappropriate in the circumstances.

The finger should be pointed where the problem really lies — which is the funding of our schools by our own Government.

Fine Gael raised this matter in the European Parliament recently. It is emerging that the EU Commission does not require the Government to charge schools for water and that the core of the current problem is the legislation introduced by the Government in December 2003, and not the EU water framework directive.

Mr Hyland should not blame the EU — he should blame the Government.

Colm Burke MEP

20 Washington Street

Cork