The Government and Irish Water made mistakes in the introduction of charges, Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly told the Dáil.

He said they had been operating to demanding timelines that underestimated the scale of moving away from delivery by local government to a fully regulated public utility in such a short space of time.

“We tried to do in three years what other countries did in five to 10 years.’’

Mr Kelly said that in advance of the completion of the metering programme, the charging regime was overly complex; it was not well understood by the public and it had created uncertainty for customers regarding their bills in 2015 and beyond.

“However, the package I am announcing today corrects these mistakes. It gives every citizen of goodwill , every customer of Irish Water, a firm, fair and affordable basis on which to move forward to a better future, where we will have a national water utility that will be a world leader in its field and that we can be proud of.’’

New beginning

He said it was a new beginning for Irish Water but, above all, for its customers and potential customers. The key principles were certainty, simplicity and affordability.

Mr Kelly said the capped charges would be €160 for single-adult households and €260 for all other households until the end of 2018. There would be specific legislative provision to allow for capped charges to continue to be set from 2019 onwards.

All eligible households would receive a water conservation of €100 annually, which meant that the net cost to single-adult households would be €60, while for other households it would be no more than €160. Households with either a water supply-only or sewage-only service would pay 50 per cent of the new rates.

Metered usage, he said, could bring charges below the relevant cap.

Mr Kelly said the system was based on self-declaration and appropriate audit, while PPS numbers would not be required for registration.

The starting date for domestic water charges was being pushed back to January 1st 2015, with first bills to issue from April, said Mr Kelly. In cases where water was unfit for human consumption, the affected customers would receive a 100 per cent discount on the costs of their drinking water supply for the duration of their restriction.

Legislate

Mr Kelly said he intended to legislate to remove the power to cut off or reduce the supply of water to premises where water charges remained wholly or partly unpaid.

Instead, unless the customer entered into a payment plan, late-payment penalties of €30 for a single-adult household and €60 for other households would be added to bills three months following a year of non-payment.

To avoid any doubt, said Mr Kelly, he wanted to be clear that it was the occupier of a premises who paid the bill.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the population was increasing, and the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the euro zone, and the climate was changing.

“We simply have to change Ireland’s public water supply system to meet these new and growing demands. There is no good time to take decisions that have a financial implication on households, least of all as we are emerging from the worst recessions that this country has ever endured.’’

Tánaiste Joan Burton said water charges were an investment in a cleaner environment that underpinned Ireland’s attraction to tourists and its agricultural base. “They are an economic investment, vital to attracting continuing local and foreign investment. They are a vital ingredient to secure a better quality of life for every family.’’

Ms Burton said over the next 10 years Ireland s had to fund a programme that would cost at least €600 million even to keep the current set-up in operation.

“The alternative is the ugly sight we saw on last night’s television news of raw sewage polluting our precious rivers at 42 different locations and the horrific situation that the people of Roscommon have had to endure spreading nationwide.”