Mayor says Clare must be reimbursed in Irish Water move

THE Government has failed to present a convincing case for the transfer of Clare’s €300 million water production and delivery system to a new independent State-owned subsidiary, Irish Water, Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Hayes has claimed.

In a hard-hitting statement, Councillor Hayes warned the proposed establishment of Irish Water by the Government has raised more questions than it has provided answers about the transfer of Clare’s water and wastewater assets from Clare Local Authorities.
Mayor Hayes claimed the Government had so far “failed” to convince ratepayers of the benefits of such a move, in terms of the level and quality of service that will be provided. He added that serious questions remained over the implications of the transfer for local authority staff.
“If Clare’s water and wastewater infrastructure is transferred to Irish Water, it is imperative that the funding invested by Clare ratepayers to develop this asset is returned to the county,” stated Mayor Hayes.
“Over the years, Clare Local Authorities has made considerable investments in land acquisitions and has taken out loans to facilitate the development and maintenance of Clare’s water and wastewater infrastructure.
“It is imperative that any expenditure, which has been invested by Clare County Council from its own resources in the creation of this considerable infrastructural asset is reimbursed. In addition, the Government must clarify whether Irish Water will assume responsibility for the repayment of any outstanding loans,” he said.
Councillor PJ Kelly told a Clare County Council meeting on Tuesday that one of the minister’s advisers was unable to answer a series of questions about the implications of the new water body for local authorities when questioned at a recent Southern and Eastern Assembly meeting.
Councillor Bill Chambers has also been very critical of the establishment of the new State body, warning that Clare people will not receive the same level of service if the delivery of water is centralised to Dublin.
In reply to a motion from Councillor PJ Kelly, director of services, Nora Kaye confirmed the asset value of the council’s water production and delivery system owned was in the region of €300m.
Ms Kaye stated the asset value of the waste water delivery system and treatment plants was in the region of €115m and was also subject to variation.
The total expenditure in the revenue budget for these services is €21.4m for 2012.
There are over 70 water service locations insured including water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, reservoirs and pumping stations. The council has additional cover for any water or wastewater building or plant up to a limit of €5m.
Mayor Hayes noted that the Government’s “drip feeding of information” about the transfer of the country’s water services functions from local authorities to Irish Water had “contributed to considerable misinformation being fed into the public domain about the proposed move”.
“Neither I nor my colleagues at Clare County Council are convinced that Irish Water will provide the same quality of service as provided by Clare Local Authorities. During the adverse weather conditions of 2009 and 2010, council staff worked around the clock to ensure that disruptions to water services were minimised.
“We have yet to receive a guarantee from the Government that this same level of service will be delivered to the people of Clare,” he added.
An implementation plan is being developed by the Department of the Environment in collaboration with other relevant Government Departments, the local authorities and NewERA and will be finalised in the coming weeks with BGE. 
The plan will cover the legal, governance, organisational, human resources, financial, operations, regulatory and other issues that will need to be addressed in the establishment of Irish Water. The relationship between the public water utility and the local authorities across the range of related functions for which local government is responsible such as planning, emergency management and so on will also be dealt with in the plan.
The department expects the majority of local authority staff will remain in their position until 2017 and any future change will be the subject of detailed engagement with staff and trade unions.