The Government has announced that the transitional "flat rate" water charges for schools are to be applied retrospectively. This follows its climbdown over the compulsory introduction of metered charges.
The fees for 2007 will be €3 per year per pupil enrolled; rising to €3.50 per pupil this year; and €4 per pupil in 2009.
That will mean that a school with 200 students will pay €600 in water charges for 2007, rising to €800 in 2009.
If actual usage as recorded by a meter would produce a lower charge than the flat rate the lower bill will apply.
In late December, the Government retreated from its insistence that the EU Water Framework Directive be implemented for schools, a move that would have led to many schools facing increased - and, in some cases, crippling - water bills.
At the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, the Government confirmed it would put a stay on schools paying the full cost of water services on a metered basis until January 2010. The transitional arrangements provide for flat rate water charges that will increase incrementally until 2009.
When making the announcement on December 18th, the Taoiseach advised schools to hold on to their bills until further details emerged, effectively telling them not to pay.
That led to some confusion as to whether schools would have to pay for water charges imposed during 2007.
The charges are much less than the fees faced by some schools under the abandoned system. Fine Gael's education spokesman Brian Hayes claimed several schools had received bills for between €8,000 and €10,000.
Last night Mr Hayes claimed that the Government had merely postponed the "financial hit" for parents until 2010, arguing it had no coherent plan for establishing a fair water metering system.
"After being forced into a humiliating U-turn by Fine Gael, Labour and the thousands of schools crippled by water charges, it is now clear Fianna Fáil and the Greens are intent on making parents foot the bill for water charges for the period till 2010," he said.
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) also criticised the transitional measures as a totally inadequate response.
"The union had demanded a moratorium on the imposition of water charges on schools before 2010. This has been ignored. Instead, more than 20 per cent of the increase for running costs provided in the Budget will now be clawed back on this one item," the INTO said.
It predicted that water charges would be a major issue in the 2009 local elections.
The Green Party's government spokesman said all schools should have water meters by January 2010. He accepted that in some cases, water charges will be higher then but said many will be lower because of more efficient use of water.