THE Mayor of Killarney has warned that he will not accept any increases imposed by Irish Water if they impact on the business people of Kerry who are already under pressure in the current circumstances.
Cllr Brendan Cronin had asked the company to clarify what changes to existing charges were being planned for Kerry customers, in comparison to what had been in place.
The ultilities company said it is cognisant of the challenges faced by businesses and that its aim is to ensure that every business across the country is provided with a clear, transparent, equitable charging regime regardless of location.
There are currently over 500 different tariff levels, with customers in different local authority areas paying different charges, but the new framework will standardise charges across the country while recovering the cost of providing water and wastewater services to non-domestic customers.
Irish Water said to ensure the changes are clearly communicated, it will be writing to all customers “in early 2021” outlining what the changes will mean for them.
“The vast majority of customers will see either a decrease or an increase of less than €250 per annum in their annual bills. For the minority of customers who will face larger increases in their annual bill, Irish Water will put in place a number of important support measures,” the company said.
Connections that see an increase of €250 or more will be gradually transitioned to the new tariffs over three years and for connections that will face an increase of €750 or more, Irish Water will automatically apply a 10% cap to the annual bill increase in any one year.
Irish Water said it has examined international best practice and consulted with representative groups and individual businesses across the country and this approach has greatly helped in developing charges that are clear, simple, and fair to all.
Mayor Cronin said, however, that the response he received didn’t answer the specific queries he had asked and to say that charges could rise by either €250 or €750 wasn’t detailed enough.
“I am very disappointed with the response. I am objecting to the increases as they are just nailing the people again,” he stated.
Cllr Maura Healy-Rae also called on Kerry County Council to ask Irish Water to urgently cease plans to increase water charges on commercial and non-domestic users from next May.
“These customers are in an already perilous predicament and can not sustain any further hardship,” she said.
Cllr Healy-Rae outlined how the cabinet had approved the new charging regime for non-domestic users back in November of 2020 with the proposal that a new four-band tariff system would replace the current system of 500 different tarriffs.
“In the middle of a pandemic, businesses that have been closed for significant periods during the last year can not withstand an increase of any sort. Furthermore, farmers who may have multiple connections on different land holdings would be hardly hit,” Cllr Healy-Rae said.
Irish Water is encouraging businesses to visit www.water.ie where they can assess the impact of the new charges on their future bills using our online calculator tool. Further information is also available online including a detailed questions and answers section and case studies.
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