Taoiseach Simon Harris has been called on to defer an increase in water charges, set to come into effect from October 1, until new investment is made is water infrastructure.
Speaking to Agriland on our livestream from the 2024 National Ploughing Championships, the Taoiseach indicated that he wanted to partially use recouped tax from tech giant Apple on water infrastructure.
The Taoiseach told Agriland: “There aren’t decisions yet, but I’ll tell you where my heads at; I want to see one-off, windfall funding that we have, if you want to call it Apple or indeed from the sale of bank shares, I want to see it pumped into water, electricity on the grid, and housing.
You can see the Taoiseach’s full appearance on the Agriland livestream below:
Now, Francie Gorman, president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), has said he has written to the Taoiseach to seek a pause on the increase in water charges.
“In light of the comments made by the Taoiseach at the Ploughing last week that he intends to use the Apple tax rebate to invest in water infrastructure, the proposed increase to water charges should be paused,” Gorman said.
A new set of national water and wastewater business charges will come into effect on October 1, 2024.
The water service standing charge for ‘band 1’ water users (consumption less than 1,000m3) is set to increase from €44 to €83 per year, while the standing charge for ‘band 2’ users (1,000m3 – 20,000m3) will increase from €113 to €218 per year.
Farm organisations and several opposition politicians have criticised the move, saying it will add to the cost burden for farmers.
The IFA has said it has “made representations to demonstrate the unfairness” of Uisce Éireann’s planned increases, which nearly double the standing charges for water connections.
“Given the difficult economic situation on farms, with income down 34% in 2024, increasing water charged at this time will exacerbate an already difficult cashflow situation on farms,” Gorman said.
“The proposed increase will disproportionately impact our most economically vulnerable farmers who operate extensive farms with fragmented holdings and multiple water connections with very low usage rates,” he added.
“These planned increases come at a time when farmers are being asked to co-operate with a major infrastructural project to pipe water from the River Shannon to Dublin. This water will be provided free of charge, while water charges to farmers are going to be increased.
“This is unfair and is seen so by farmers. The Taoiseach must intervene to pause plans to introduce increases,” Gorman said.