There has never been such as thing as free tap water. Household water costs a great deal to collect, treat and distribute and it has to be paid for. And, once again, the issue is about who is going to foot the bill. Twenty years ago, the cost of water treatment and waste services had grown to the extent that it was decided to raise the money through local authority charges, rather than income tax. Those charges were unpopular and like rates – their overarching predecessor – they were abolished under political pressure for private households, but they remained for businesses. No specific, alternative funding was provided. The results: a fragmented, under-funded and grossly inadequate water and sewage system.
Those individuals who marched tens of thousands strong through various cities and towns at the weekend chose not to consider the question of funding. They were mad as hell over reports that revealed an unjustified bonus culture within Irish Water and resented that they would have to pay for feather-bedded incompetence. After six years of reduced living standards, they had had enough. Political reform for them meant a reduction in charges, not a change in management structures. Those politically opposed to water charges under any circumstances; those who accepted the broad principle of paying for a service and those unable to pay were united in their opposition.
The Government has been floundering for weeks in the slipstream thrown up by these protests. Ministers, led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Joan Burton have openly acknowledged that mistakes were made. Indications that charges may be further reduced or delayed, while ability to pay will be re-examined in post-budget concessions, have been flagged. The concessions amount to a political retreat and reflect the incoherence and botched communications that attended this exercise. Irish Water will, however, remain.
It is four years since a government decided to charge separately for water and sewage treatment. The issue was extensively debated inside and outside of the Dáil before this Government passed enabling legislation. It was downhill from there.
The man in charge, Phil Hogan – now an EU Commissioner – appeared to think that throwing money at the project would make it work. He diverted property tax revenues from local authorities and authorised a process of recruitment and excessive expenditure. By removing Irish Water costs from the State's balance sheet, he raised the spectre of privatisation. The Government is facing a damage limitation exercise that could cost it the next election. It needs to address a number of issues. The most important of these are fairness, affordability and transparency. Reassurance is also needed that water services will not be privatised.