Thwarted by the suspension of his much beloved water charges, outgoing Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly has gone ahead and established his own private Irish Water-like quango.
The institution, aptly named “Local Authorities Water and Communities Office (LAWCO)” has been established in Mr. Kelly’s home county of Tipperary.
LAWCO’s ethos is “to promote awareness of the need to improve the quality of Ireland’s waterways.”
Perhaps not so coincidentally, Alan Kelly’s reign as government minister will come to an end this week.
Headed by Mr. Kelly, the brand new quango is based in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, and will be manned by four staff, all of whom were ‘independently’ selected by a four-person board.