Experts will address a conference in Dublin today to make a case for not one but a range of environmental taxes (as if we didn’t have enough already) as a way of reducing our Budget deficit. An Irish audience will hear today how water metering makes not only environmental sense but economic sense, claiming that billions of euro could be saved each year if householders were made to pay for water usage.
While these are both valid arguments and Ireland remains one of very few countries who does not have domestic water charges introducing such as tax at this time could be crippling to many households. Countless homeowners currently struggle to meet their mortgage repayments while frightening numbers are unable to pay their Electricity bills.
Not only that but Irelands water network is in bad need of repair, with leaks, shortages and contamination not unheard of in many areas around the country. Commenting on the water crisis last winter one TD said, “This was entirely predictable given the shambolic state of the country’s water network and the Government’s failure to fix it, especially when 43% of the supply was already leaking into the ground”.
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