County Councillor Seamus O’ Domhnaill has slammed the takeover of water services by Irish Water warning customers will have to pay up to €760 per annum.
Cllr Seamus O’Domhnaill
In a scathing attack he warned that Irish Water has mis-spent tax payer’s money when there was no need to do so.
The Fianna Fail councillor said the massive amount of €50 million which was ‘squandered’ by Irish Water could have been saved if a request was made to receive the same expertise from local councils.
“All too often these ‘Quangos’ don’t listen or ask the people with the knowledge on the ground of their views and this is another such case”.
He continued “This cost of €50 million will be passed onto the bill-payers even though in my opinion there was no need to have spent the money in the first place. It shows the negligible way in which this government is spending monies at a time when basic, much needed services are being slashed.
“Minister Hogan must take responsibility for this calamity as he allowed the Irish Water fiasco to become a Run Away Train with he himself at the helm. It became evident to me when the Fine Gael & Labour Party were not prepared to accept amendments from any of the opposition Parties or Independents in the Daíl that the Government had something to hide. It all appears to be coming to light now and Minister Hogan must take responsibility for another shambles created by him.”
Cllr O’Domhnaill added that having received figures from the Houses of the Oireachtas research library in recent days, he claims that homes across our County will be charged on average €760 per annum for the provision of water.
“This figure represents a base figure with Irish Water only breaking even and doesn’t allow for a profit. The cost of producing water in Ireland is over € 1.2 billion with approximately 1.3 million houses being served by the public supply and approx 200 million being collected currently from commercial customers. The €50 million spent on consultants must also be recouped which will further drive the cost upwards.”
He said it is a simple fact that people across Donegal cannot afford such prices and this is simply a revenue generating exercise too far for the citizens of Donegal.
“The money which has been squandered in setting up Irish Water would have been better spent upgrading the pipe network around our country thus creating employment and reducing the amount of water which is actually used, as up to 50 % of the water that leaves the treatment plant is lost before it reaches the tap.
“I await anxiously the answers and explanations which will be given by the Irish water executives and Minister Hogan and also await his apology to the people for another calamity created under his watch”.
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