Irish Water Collects Under Half of Water Charges

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Irish Water Collects Under Half of Water Charges

Irish Water calculated it should take in €271 million in a full year of operation, meaning it should collect €66.8 million in its first quarterly billing cycle. The money collected for the first three months stands at €30.5 million, or 46%

Irish Water has collected 46 per cent of all domestic water charge payments due to it for the first three months of billing, The Irish Times has learned.

The semi-state company, which began billing people for water in January, will release the payment figures on Wednesday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil on Tuesday.

Sources said Irish Water calculated it should take in €271 million in a full year of operation, meaning it should collect €66.8 million in its first quarterly billing cycle of January, February and March – with bills sent out from April onwards. The money collected for the first three months stands at €30.5 million, or 46 per cent.

The figures for the first quarter include homes in ghost estates and up to 5 per cent of people Irish Water does not have addresses for and haven’t sent bills to.

The figures do not include non-domestic bills, such as businesses, schools and hospitals, which are running at around 90 per cent payment of all money due. However, non-domestic charges were already being paid before the introduction of domestic water charges.

The number of households that have paid is 675,000 out of 1.5 million, or around 43 per cent.
Sources claimed the percentage figure for money collected is more important because it reflects the levels of payments made.

The difference in percentage between the money collected and households that have paid is because of different amounts of money charged per bill, sources said.

“Every bill is different,” said one. It was also pointed out that the average time for someone to pay their water bill in the United Kingdom is three months.

The first cycles of bills also show 40 per cent of people paying through metered charges, rather than capped charges of €260 per two adult household and €160 per single adult households, beat the cap with lower water charges.

Source: Irish Times

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