Council to turn off the tap on defaulters

CLARE County Council is adopting a hard-line stance against water service charge defaulters by vowing to disconnect water supplies to a number of businesses in the coming weeks.
The disconnections relate to the non-payment of water service charges dating back, in some cases, to 2007. The outstanding charges range from €600 to €42,000 and concern businesses in Ennis and Shannon, as well as in towns and villages across East, West and North Clare.
The council action comes in a week when it was revealed that €20.866 million was not paid to the council in accrued income. This includes commercial rates of €5.721m; waste and water charges of €4.715m; development contributions of €7.736m; housing loans and rents of €1.245m; commercial refuse, €409,000; fire charges of €882,000 and other charges amounting to €158,000.
The businesses, which include a hotel, hairdresser, publican, farm, butcher and service station, have received between four and six payment reminders each along with individual visits from Clare County Council personnel. 
Water charges across Ireland’s 34 local authority areas are levied based on the volume of water provided to non-domestic premises. The charges are generally based on consumption where a meter has been installed.
A spokesperson for Clare County Council stated, “The businesses that face disconnection in the coming weeks have not paid outstanding bills or agreed to a payment arrangement to clear the liability. Having endeavoured to get engagement from the businesses concerned, Clare County Council, as the water services authority, cannot continue to provide these services. The disconnection of water services to these businesses is being carried out in accordance with Local Government Legislation.”
“Other disconnections are anticipated in the coming months. However, Clare County Council would like to remind business owners that find themselves in arrears that they should contact the council immediately to agree a payment arrangement,” the spokesperson concluded.
Figures for outstanding income were disclosed following a motion tabled by Councillor Michael Hillery, who expressed concern that local authority services could suffer in the long term if a significant portion of the €20.8m owing is not collected.
Councillor Hillery asked if people who had money are not paying their fair share and wondered what systems are in place for those in genuine financial difficulty. Describing the outstanding sum as very serious, he called on the council to improve its collection rate.
Councillors were assured the council has a number of processes in place to vigorously pursue debts that are due, including legal proceedings where necessary.
Where businesses or individuals are in financial difficulty, agreement can be reached between both parties for staged payments.
Chief fire officer, Adrian Kelly, said, in some cases, a number of bills are sent out after an accident before it is established where liability lies. Mr Kelly explained  some people do not contact the council to discuss a bill and could benefit from their waiver system, depending on their financial circumstances.
“We can’t have a situation where people are afraid to call the fire brigade. If there is a fire, call the fire station and we can discuss the matter afterwards,” he said.
Councillor PJ Kelly expressed concern that the overall figures for outstanding income contained “illusionary” income as it was extremely unlikely the council would realise everything that was due.
If the council was a private business, Councillor Cathal Crowe warned it would be on the road to bankruptcy.
Head of Finance, Niall Barrett pointed out the council did make provision for debts, which were not recoverable and had procedures in place in departments to deal with this.
“We can’t have a situation where people are afraid to call the fire brigade. If there is a fire, call the fire station and we can discuss the matter afterwards,” he said.
Councillor PJ Kelly expressed concern that the overall figures for outstanding income contained “illusionary” income as it was extremely unlikely the council would realise everything that was due.
If the council was a private business, Councillor Cathal Crowe warned it would be on the road to bankruptcy.
Head of Finance, Niall Barrett pointed out the council did make provision for debts, which were not recoverable and had procedures in place in departments to deal with this.