The ever controversial subject that is Irish water, is in the news yet again this morning after a leading Sinn Féín TD has boldly claimed that the only way to clear the the debt ridden utility of the state’s books is by increasing water charges.
The rather bold and surely costly claim has come from Sinn Fein’s Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty who claims the government will now devise a scheme that will see charges being unfairly increased so that the €850m debt will be cleared off.
Mr Doherty said: “The only way that they will meet the Eurostat ruling in the future is by increasing water charges,” said Deputy Doherty. “So that means that one way or another that customers who are already hard-pressed will be paying additional for water charges under this Government.” He further added: “So it is time that the Government accept what the opposition have been saying, that the charging of domestic water charges has been a failure from the get-go.”
The news comes after the state utility revealed recently they are currently operating at a €850m loss which is expected to rise to over €1.2 billion over the coming months.