Foreword Buncrana Together - Simon Coveney irresponsibly preempting the Oireachtas Joint Committee's discussion on the future funding of water in Ireland. By the way this committee of TDs restarts again on Jan 12, 2017 and concludes at the end of February. Mr Coveney is again re-introducing the threat from Brussels. Surely by now he must have grasped the importance of the 9.4 section in the Water Framework Directive (Irish Exemption)? Where did he pluck the figure of 123 from and we see he only counts adults, no mention of children (not a wain in the house washed). In the USA the daily average per person is 400 litres, see USGS.
Simon Coveney moots free daily water allowance of 123 litres
by Juno McEnroe, Irish Examiner, Jan 5 2017
Adults should be allowed to use 123 litres of water per day free of charge before excess costs apply under a new system, Housing Minister Simon Coveney says.
He said households who had still not paid old water bills should be pursued but allowed to pay outstanding debts over a long period.
A special commission last month recommended most homes get water for free. Mr Coveney said parties wanted to move on and agree a plan through a new Oireachtas committee on water charges.
But in an interview with the Irish Examiner he also admitted that he and the Government had not received word from Brussels as to whether the new water charges plan was acceptable.
He expected the free water allowance per adult — to be agreed by the Dáil — to be 123 litres per day.
“The average usage in Ireland is about 46,000 litres. To be exact it is about 123 litres per day for an average adult... We need to be at the national average and probably a little bit more than that so that people who are using water will have some flexibility around being a little bit above the average or below the average.”
Mr Coveney stressed that he did not want to interfere with the Oireachtas committee, which will begin its work next week. But he still believes households using excess amounts of water must pay more.
“If people are using more than that, why should their neighbours pay for it through general taxation?
“So if you have one house in the estate that is filling a swimming pool out the back, everybody else in the estate has to pay for it. That is just not fair.”
Source: Irish Examiner, Jan 5 2017