IFA Gets Confirmation of No Water Charges for Private Wells

IFA Environment and Rural Affaris Chairman Harold Kingston has welcomed a commitment from the Commission for Energy Regulaion (CER) that households with private wells will not pay additional charges for their water. This clear commitment was given to the IFA at a recent meeting with the CER.

While welcoming this commitment, Harold Kingston has also called on the CER and Irish Water to reduce the cost that farm families pay for water that is suppleid from a public source.

Following IFA representations, the CER has also agreed to reconsider the proposal to issue farmers with two water bills – one from Irish Water for household water and a second from the local authority for water used on the farm. Harold Kinston said the current billing proposal represents wasteful inefficiency, which would add additional costs for water users.

The IFA has also highlighted to CER the need to end wasteful duplicaiton of water charges inspections by public bodies and the need to establish a compesnation package in cases where farm land is sterilised to accommodate water abstraction for public use.