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Meters will not be installed in every home in the country
when water charges are introduced in 2014, the Government
has admitted.
This means that some families will be forced to pay for water
based on the average use of their neighbours, with no reward
for cutting consumption.
Work on installing meters in 1.5 million properties will
begin later this year, but it will take up to three years
to install meters in every home in the country.
Homes with meters will be billed on the amount of water they
use, while those without will be forced to pay a charge based
on the average use of people in similarly-sized properties.
A spokeswoman for Environment Minister Phil Hogan last week
admitted that some homes could not be charged on usage, because
it would not be possible to have every property metered by
2014 when the charges come into force.
The Department of the Environment will seek companies to
begin work installing meters over the coming weeks and the
country will be divided into some 200 areas, with a separate
metering contract for each.
This is designed to help create employment locally and the
Government has promised that up to 2,000 construction jobs
will be created over three years.
The State plans to spend €370m on water services this year,
with some of the money going towards the cost of installing
the meters. The bill has been estimated at up to €500m, but
not until contractors are appointed will the final cost be
known.
A six-week public
consultation on reform of water services opened last
week and members of the public are invited to make proposals
on how a new utility company - to be called Irish Water -
should operate.
It will be responsible for setting prices and collecting
charges and will be established within a year. A new agency
may be set up, or an existing company such as Bord na Móna
or the National Roads Authority could take responsibility.
Mr Hogan said that, once the metering programme was completed,
up to €600m a year would be invested in water services.
"The water reform programme will form a key element of our
job creation strategy. The water metering programme will result
in 2,000 much-needed good-quality jobs for the construction
sector," Mr Hogan said.
Source - The Irish Independent
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