Irish Water pay rises: Utility struggles for survival

IRISH WATER must be the most accident-prone institution ever established here. Since its inception, it has been the subject of impassioned debate and trenchant criticism — not without reason.

In the latest scandal, Irish Water employees are to receive backdated pay rises of up to 3% under a ruling issued yesterday by the Labour Relations Commission. This has come about because management abandoned the performance pay structure originally agreed with staff.

Irish Water has managed to infuriate a sizeable proportion of the electorate with its metering programme, ignoring genuine concerns while giving ammunition to a variety of political forces that seek its abolition. It now has enraged staff by reneging on a contract.