Government ministers are set to hold talks this about the possibility of introducing a new legislation that would allow Irish Water deduct charges from people’s wages or social welfare payments if they refuse to pay.
According to sources from within the Dail the new proposal, non payment of the charges would not result in a jail term for those who willingly refuse to pay. The new proposals are were brought about back in 2010 after the Law Reform Commission recommended that people with outstanding debt should have attachment orders be applied to their earnings.
It is understood that ministers from the departments of justice and the environment have been working on the new legislation for a number of months. Meanwhile the Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly has said that he and his department ate looking into the issue regarding tenants who refuse to pay their Irish Water bills.
The new water charges are currently set at €160 per year for a single-adult household and €260 for houses with more than one adult. Although many households are eligible to apply for a conservation grant of €100 from the department of social protection. However under the new legislation a minimum threshold will be applied to social welfare payments to stop companies from taking large amounts from people’s payments. The government claims that they will review every case brought to them and they will distinguish between those who cannot pay and those who refuse to pay.
Although the legislation states that penalties for failure of payment will not apply until next summer at the earliest, which will be after the next general election.
Meanwhile Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty has welcomed the decision to remove the threat of a jail term saying it was the right decision, however he strongly argued that the government would be “silly” to think the move will “get rid of the huge public anger” about water charges.
However Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesperson Niall Collins has strongly disagreed with Mr Howlin’ s coments, saying the new legislation was “a very cynical move made by the government”.