Increase in school water charges denounced

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny claimed the Department of Education was "going to screw" schools because of huge increases in water charges. He told the Dáil it was unacceptable that parents were being forced to organise auctions, cake sales, raffles and golf outings to pay for the huge increases faced by schools in their water charges.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said however, it was the law, and the way to improve the situation was through good environmental practice by water conservation.

The Departments of Environment and Education were considering the issue and there was "a need to achieve some kind of agreement on standards between the local authorities and the departments".

Mr Kenny said the problem had reached "ridiculous proportions". A school in Sligo was charged €7,000, while one in Galway had a water charges fee of €8,000 and a school in Louth faced a levy of €2,500 which was expected to rise to €8,000 next year.

"The Department of Education is going to screw schools by virtue of the fact there is no system to provide for usage of water in schools and where parents will be forced to pay for it."

Parents were "currently making arrangements for charity walks, auctions, Christmas sales and golf outings as they are now expected to pay for the use of water in schools".

Mr Ahern pointed out that the charges were part of the EU Water Framework Directive, "which is now law". It was negotiated in 1999. The Taoiseach said that "at the time we argued that the 1.4 million houses in the country, in which the parents of all these children live, should not pay domestic water rates. We got a derogation for that, but we did not get a derogation for schools."

He reiterated that "it is law and now we should be trying to improve on that, as good environmental practice and standards dictate". Mr Ahern stressed that the capitation rate had been improved. "It is now more than €100,000 for a school of 300 pupils. For a post-primary school of 500 it is €270,000."

The Taoiseach paid tribute to Gorey Community College in Wexford, which he said had saved 24,000 litres of water through conservation. The Government was investing billions in improving water quality standards and Dublin City Council had sent out conservation packs to schools "to try to get people to work together to improve the rate of water conservation because if schools follow good practice, that will keep down water charges. We should all be trying to conserve water."

When Pádraic McCormack (FG, Galway West) asked the Taoiseach if he could do anything about it, Mr Ahern replied "no".

The Fine Gael leader pointed out that "when a business refuses to pay water charges, the local authority will cut it off". He asked would a situation arise where schools would be "on the dry" by having their water cut off if they could not pay the "very substantial" charge.

Mr Ahern said water meters were being installed in the more than 4,000 schools in the country. "Metering will help but the framework directive is based on conservation of water and therefore is based on use. This is the law we signed up to in 1999."