Irish Water costs - An affront to all who paid for reform

The establishment of Irish Water, after years of debate and denial and the introduction of domestic water charges, was to have been one of our great modernising projects.

It was to have been a considered response to years of neglect and mismanagement. It was to have been a flagship, yes-we-can innovation and it is not overstating the case to suggest that Irish Water was to have been an ESB for its time. Irish Water was to have been a stepping stone away from our murky, nudge-nudge, leaky past towards a better organised and accountable place. In so many ways it came to symbolise what we needed to do to insulate this society from the whims of localism and the idea that under-resourced local authorities might develop and sustain water systems capable of meeting today’s and tomorrow’s needs.

It, just like the deferred universal health insurance scheme in another sphere, was to have been a framework for streamlined delivery of essential services. The organisation was to have been an exemplary project, one that would show we are capable of deep reform. So much for that well-intentioned but unfortuantely misplaced idealism. As weekend Sunday Business Post reports show, Irish Water seems to have become another opportunity for the untouchables to add a few more carriages to the gravy train.