Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD, Seán Crowe, has claimed that Minister Phil Hogan’s admission that people might pay up to €500 in water charges makes a mockery of the €240 average charge per household announced by the Government.

He also said that the average charge itself will be far more than €240 after 2016, once subsidies come to an end, and Irish Water and the Regulator will inevitably pass on the full cost to consumers.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“Environment Minister Hogan is only admitting to the vastly higher charges that will be paid by many households because people themselves have been doing their own sums and calculations. What is clear is that any proposed average figure will encompass a broad range from low to high.

“It has also emerged that we will not know the real level of charges until the Energy Regulator makes his report in August.

“What we are seeing and hearing from Government is a fudge that they hope will stretch beyond the local and European elections on May 23rd.

“It is my growing belief that eventually the vast majority of households will be paying a much higher water charge than the Government’s stated average payment of €240.

“What is becoming even more certain, as the days advance, is that Irish Water will pass the full cost of running their company and the water service onto consumers, as required by the EU Water Directive.”

ENDS