Irish Water has deferred its new non-domestic pricing structure as a result of the current COVID-19 emergency.

The new framework, which looks set to affect over 80% of Irish farmers, will see new water charges for usage and connections equalised across all counties.

It will replace the 500 different water and wastewater tariffs billed in 44 separate areas across the country which were in place before Irish Water took over responsibility for water services from local authorities in 2014 and which continue to apply today.

The new structure was due to come into effect on 1 May 2020, with customers due to receive communications about these changes in the coming weeks. Irish Water has not said when it expects the charges to now come into effect.

Uncertainty

Head of customer operations at Irish Water, Yvonne Harris said: "With significant uncertainty facing businesses and enterprises at the present time, it was agreed that the introduction of the new framework and national set of charges should be deferred.

“The situation is to be reviewed in the coming months in light of emerging developments with Covid 19.

“We will ensure we keep businesses and their representative groups up to date as the situation develops. In the interim, we will continue to use the existing charges and work with businesses who have been impacted by the COVID-19 emergency.”

Farming

The new non-domestic tariff framework for Irish Water was published in July 2019 and will apply to over 183,000 water and wastewater connections for around 164,000 customers from the business, industrial and agricultural sectors, as well as to public bodies, charities, and social enterprises.

Irish Water’s analysis indicates that 83% of connections will see their annual bill decrease, stay the same, or increase by less than €250. Only 17% of connections will see their bill rise by €250 or more, it said.

Farmers using less than 1,000m³ of water per year (band one) will have a connection charge of €43.76 per year and a usage charge of €1.87/m³. Those using between 1,000m³ and 19,999m³ (band two) will be charged €113.31, with a usage charge of €1.30/m³.

Teagasc data shows a 100-cow farm producing 5,000l of milk per cow per year will, on average, use 3,200m³ a year, putting such farms in band two.

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