The tales of woe coming out of Irish Water’s sewage-filled bowels seem to have no end to their conniving hilarity.
It has emerged today that the doomed utility is now demanding a waiver from customers before it fixes any leaks.
Irish Water is asking customers who wish to avail of the “First Fix” scheme to sign a document which states “the owner agrees that Irish Water will not be liable for any loss (including costs) or damage (irrespective of whether such loss or damage was foreseeable or not) caused during the period while the owner is waiting for the works to be carried out”.
Essentially, this neat little clause means that any damaged done to a dwelling by leaking water in the time between the leak being reported and its repair by Irish Water will entirely be up to the owner to look after and pay, of course. It is worth mentioning that Irish Water could take months, if not years, to fix a leak, and that the monetary damage could very well run into tens of thousands of euro.
Irish Water came out with all guns blazing to defend this sucker punch on the householder.
It said: “Legally the responsibility for the maintenance and repair of the pipework which could be repaired under the First Fix Free scheme rests with the homeowner. This has been the legal position for some time and First Fix does not change this.
“Therefore it would not be fair or reasonable for Irish Water to be liable for any losses that occur during the wait for repairs to be carried out under First Fix…”