Householders have until midnight tonight to register with Irish Water if they are to receive the Water Conservation Grant.
What is the grant?
The grant is worth €100 and the Government says it will be administered to all households who register with Irish Water by tomorrow’s deadline.
What conservation efforts do I need to put the money towards?
None whatsoever. Despite being called the “Water Conservation Grant”, there is nothing to compel those who receive it to spend it on water conservation.
Speaking on Morning Ireland last Friday, the Environment Department Junior Minister Paudie Coffey said that the grant is there to “assist people to bring in measures, conservation measures in their own homes and some quite simple interventions will help people lessen their bill.”
In reality the money will be paid over and recipients can spend it as they please.
Hasn’t Irish Water set and moved deadlines before?
It has. The original deadline for registering with Irish Water was October 31 last year. It was pushed back to November 30, and moved again to February 2.
While Irish Water had warned that those who failed to register would be charged at the highest rate by default, there were no apparent consequences for missing any of deadlines, so they weren’t taken seriously by hundreds of thousands of people.
So why is this deadline any different?
The Government is adamant that that those who miss this deadline will not be eligible for the grant and so will not qualify for the €100.
Will this €100 be taken straight off my water bill?
No. The government says it will be paid over by the Department of Social Protection.
I have my own private well and so won’t be an Irish Water customer. Is any of this relevant to me?
Absolutely. The good news for you is even though you won’t be paying Irish Water, you can still get the grant. You’ll still have to register with Irish Water, but it says it is only so it knows your house is on a private well and you are not a customer who has not regisitered.
Say I am registered on time. When do I get my money?
The Government says those who have registered will receive correspondence from the Department of Social Protection from late August. This will detail how to apply for the grant.
