Decision on water charge sign-up extension to be announced tomorrow

The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) will announce tomorrow if Irish Water is to receive an extension to the period households have to register with the new utility.

The deadline for registration with Irish Water is October 31st, but the semi-State company has requested an additional month for the process from the CER.

The granting of an extension would have a “knock-on effect” on when the first bills were issued to households, CER commissioner Paul McGowan has said.

As a result, he said bills would probably begin to issue at the end rather than the beginning of January, as initially planned.

Asked about the number of households who have signed up for the water charges to date, an Irish Water spokeswoman said the company had “not gone public with numbers who have validated”, but it intended to issue a statement on the matter soon.

Signed up

It was reported this week that 500,000 households had signed up for the water charges and about one million had not.

Meanwhile, the Government is considering extending the period during which households will pay an effective fixed-rate water charge rather than a metered one to allow for the further installation of water meters.

The fixed assessed charge from Irish Water was initially to be used for the first nine months of the regime.

Under the charges regimes a water allowance (of 30,000 litres) is being provided for every household.

A further 21,000 litres is offered for every child for whom child benefit is being received – the 2011 census put the average number of children per family at 1.38, down from 1.41 in 2006. Customers must register with Irish Water to claim these allowances.

Package

A household without a septic tank will require a water-in and waste water-out package and will pay a basic charge of €4.88 per 1,000 litres until the end of 2016. Those who just require water-in will pay €2.44 per 1,000 litres.

Under the fixed charge regime a household of two adults and two children would pay €278.16 on an annual basis for their water when allowances are taken into account, which works out at €69.54 per quarter.

A person who lives alone would pay €175.68 after their free allowance, or €43.92 every three months, while two adults sharing would pay €278.16, or €69.54 per quarter.