This article is from page 20 of the 2008-02-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
KILRUSH area councillors have agreed that holiday home owners in Clare should pay for the water sup- as At last night’s (Monday) meeting of the council, Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) said that holiday homes were a commercial interest and as such the owners should have to pay for the water supplied to them.
Under Government policy, all non- domestic water must be paid for but local authorities, such as Clare Coun- ty Council, cannot charge domestic users for their water supply.
As many as 3,092 non-domestic water users in the Kilrush area have been identified but this does not in- clude holiday home schemes.
“People who are trying to make a living in the county are being charged and those making money from the county are not contributing at all,’ said the former TD.
Supporting Clir Taylor Quinn, Cllr Patrick Keane (FF) said, “There is a lot of revenue that can be collected.”
The 3,092 non-domestic water cus- tomers identified by the council in the Kilrush Electoral area includes all non-domestic customers on group schemes supplied with public water.
According to Derek Troy, Execu- tive Engineer with Clare County Council, “The process of surveying, compiling lists of works and meter installation is currently ongoing and the total number of customers may change due to additional connections being made or non-domestic connec- tions being removed.
“This project should be complete over the next number of months.”
Revenue that may accrue from non- domestic connections will depend on total usage. However, current rates are €1.10 per cubic metre for water supply, €2.08 per cubic metre for the consolidated supply (water and
sewerage connections), and a fixed charge of €1.45 per customer,’ he said. Installation of the meters will cost €145.
It was argued at Clare County Council level that the installation of such metre should be borne by cen- tral government.
The cost, however, will have to be paid by the customer. Clare County Council must also find €80 million to upgrade the county’s treatment plants, to maintain water schemes, and to monitor them if it is to reach the targets set in the first report on the Provision and Quality of Drink- ing Water in Ireland, 2006 – 2007.