A Kerry county councillor is calling on owners of wells and members of group schemes not to return forms sent out by Irish Water.

Danny Healy-Rae (Ind), who represents the Killarney area, said yesterday he was doing so out of concern for future charges.

“I’m honestly telling people not to fill these forms because, when the Government gets their hands on them, they’ll come up with some stunt to charge the people with their own wells and sewage,” Mr Healy-Rae said.

Protests against water charges are planned in Kerry at the weekend.

Unions

Meanwhile, five unions representing more than 100,000 workers joined forces yesterday to call on the Government to abolish water user charges.

The Communication Workers’ Union, the Civil Public and Services Union, Mandate, Operative Plasterers and Allied Trades Society of Ireland , and Unite are all affiliates of the Right2Water campaign, which organised the recent large demonstration in Dublin.

In a joint statement, the unions claimed the credibility of Irish Water had been irrevocably damaged by a combination of mismanagement and political manipulation. They called for the company to be dissolved.

“Our message is very simple: Irish people have already paid for water through general taxation, and are not prepared to pay for it a second time through water-user charges.

“It is clear that neither the Government’s water charges policy nor Irish Water can be reformed.

“The time has come for the Government to recognise the overwhelming opposition of the citizens by abolishing water charges, stop wasting further taxpayers’ money on water meter installation, dissolve Irish Water and return its functions to the local authorities, and go back to the drawing board to construct a water management policy which is fit for purpose . . .”