Following a recent meeting of Wicklow County Council at which the issue of water-metering for non-domestic customers was discussed, Green Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca has claimed that the system being installed is unfair and will inevitably lead to privatisation of the service.

Wicklow County Councillors were informed that all non-domestic customers in County Wicklow would have water meters installed by the end of 2006 and that charges would be fully implemented in 2007 based on water usage. According to de Burca, domestic customers are exempted at present from water-charging, introduced by the Irish Government under the EU's Water Framework Directive. "Non-domestic customers include shops and offices, pubs and restaurants, agricultural users, social/sports halls, schools, colleges and crèches, factory and warehouses and garages" she says.

"The installation of the water meters is being contracted out to a private company, and we were told that the charging, operation and maintenance of the system will remain in-house with the council for a period of twelve months" she says. "Six additional members of staff are being recruited to take responsibility for these activities. County Manager, Eddie Sheehy, stated that the performance of council staff over the twelve month period would be bench-marked against counties where the service was being run by the private sector and will only continue if the council-run services proved as 'efficient' as those run by the private sector".

De Burca says that similar arrangements were put in place with the waste collection services several years ago and that they ended up being privatised. "The writing appears to be on the wall with water services" she says. "It would appear to be only a matter of time until all aspects of water services will be privatised. This is being driven more by ideological factors than by a rational analysis of what is in the best interests of consumers of water services into the future".

De Burca also expressed her concerns at the fact that no distinction is being made where the new water- charging system is concerned between commercial and non-commercial customers. "It is difficult to see how non-commercial facilities such as schools and community centres can possibly be charged the exact same water rates as commercial businesses, and yet this is what is being proposed" she says. "Furthermore, it appears that standard water charges will be implemented across the county even in areas where water-quality is very poor or where regular water supply problems exist."