Alarm over irish water callout charges

MAYO Sinn Féin Councillor Gerry Murray has warned that householders with suspected water leaks could be facing a minimum call-out charge of €188 from Irish Water.

The Charlestown-based representative made his comments following revelations Irish Water had sought permission from the energy regulator to charge a minimum call-out fee for working out of office hours of €282 for the first hour and €141 for any additional hour.

Councillor Murray said that Irish Water had also sought approval from the energy regulator to introduce a range of other charges, including a €220 fee to test water pressure and a €17 fee for a special meter reading.

He stated it is almost certain that Irish Water and the energy regulator intend to rigidly apply the polluter pays principle, which will mean full cost recovery, regardless of the circumstances that customers find themselves in. 

“This will have serious implications for schools, group water schemes and a range of other consumers who have serious leakage problems on their networks but lack the capital resources to fix them,” he stated.