Michael Duffy
COMMUNITY and voluntary groups, many of which are ‘already struggling to keep their doors open’, are set to be charged for water usage in the buildings they occupy, under proposals to be enacted for 2008.
Mr Seamus Granahan (pictured), Director of Services, told a Water Supply and Sewerage Strategic Policy Committee meeting yesterday (Monday) that Government policy made it very difficult for any waivers’ scheme or discounts to be introduced for such organisations and that all non-domestic users would have to be treated the same.
The issue surrounding the impending charging for water by Mayo County Council in 2008 was again debated at length at the meeting, but a decision to adopt a policy document in relation to same was deferred until the September meeting of the SPC.
However, the policy document discussed at the meeting clearly states that non-domestic customers include farms, shops, offices, B&Bs, charity shops, community groups, churches, public buildings, public toilets and quarries, etc.
Mr Granahan said that community buildings had already been defined as non-domestic and the Council did not have the authority to change this.
“The directives issued by the Government have been made very clear and we will be very reluctant to change these. The reality is that if these organisations are not charged then we may be forced to put extra charges on businesses and farmers. All we want is a fair and equitable system,” said Mr Granahan.
Mr Jimmy Tully of Killasser Community Council said at the meeting that a lot of the voluntary and community organisations in the region were already struggling to keep their doors open and it did not seem fair to charge them for the minimal amount of water which they would be using each year. He proposed that the SPC write to the Department and ask them if voluntary or community organisations would be exempted from the charges. His proposal was seconded by the Leas Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Austin Francis O’Malley.
However, Westport councillor, John O’Malley, was of the opinion that everyone who used water should have to pay for it. “Farmers are going to be heavily burdened by these charges; in fact, one farmer who lives close to me, who has only 26 cows, has calculated that he will cost him close on €3,000 for one year.”
Mr Conrad Harley of Mayo County Council said the document before the Council at the meeting was purely a policy document which the Council wanted to have adopted so the public could be notified of the process that will be put in place in relation to charging the public for water in 2008.
Both Brendan O’Mahony of the IFA and Cllr John O’ Malley felt that an insertion should be made into the document with regard to charging for multiple farm connections.
However Mr Joe Beirne, County Engineer, said there had to be some charge for the multiple connections as it was costing the Council close to €1,000 to install each meter and they simply had to ‘follow their costs’.
After 90 minutes of debate, the policy document in relation to the Water Services Charges was not adopted and it will now go before the September meeting of the SPC as there are no meetings in August.
