Bringing back water charges could help pay for the cost of fixing Ireland’s creaking infrastructure, Ciara Kelly has argued. 

Uisce Éireann has estimated it will need to spend €60 billion over the next 25-years fixing problems with the nation’s water and wastewater system. 

In a report published yesterday, the OECD noted that the “funding model for water services could be assessed to see whether it is sufficient to cover the high investment costs.”

Water charges were previously announced during the austerity years by the Fine Gael-Labour Government but abandoned in the face of widespread refusal to pay. 

A decade on, Newstalk Breakfast presenter Ciara Kelly said she had little sympathy with opponents of the charges. 

“As far as I remember them, they were going to cost something like €1.60 a week - about the same price as a bottle of water,” she said. 

“We don’t have enough funding there.” 

An anti-water charges protest sign in Dublin in 2014. Image: Andrew Steven Graham / Alamy

Many people at the time argued that water should be free because it is essential to sustain human life. 

According to Ciara, this is not a logical argument given we pay for plenty of other essentials. 

“So is food,” she said. 

“There are loads of utilities that we pay for; we do need to fund it adequately but this is political kryptonite. 

“No one wants to touch it and, actually, I don’t think people really gave a monkey’s about water charges back in the day either. 

“I just think it was the straw that broke the camel’s back of austerity.” 

Protestors outside Leinster House in Dublin as the Government are due to announce new water charges. Picture by: PA. 

Ciara said how we pay for water infrastructure is an important issue but that people in Ireland are “great at sticking our heads in the sand” when it comes to politics. 

“We like to avoid doing grown up politics if at all we can,” she said. 

“The hard-left love this issue because I think they do believe that it was a massive movement of people. 

“Actually, all people cared about was one more cost on top of all the others. 

“I do think all it was was the final straw.” 

An anti-water charges protestor. Photo: RollingNews.ie

Co-presenter Shane Coleman water charges were far from the most costly change proposed by Fine Gael and Labour in the austerity years. 

“Famously, we had a 2% increase in the VAT rate that would have cost people thousands of euro a year and people took to the streets over a hundred euro a year,” she said. 

“I think you’re right though, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

“I tell you what though, there is a big issue coming down the tracks because our water infrastructure is creaking and it’s going to start costing us housing, it’s going to start costing us foreign direct investment and, at some point, we could have some kind of crash where the water goes for a big area.” 

Last year, Northern Ireland Water announced that non-domestic water and sewerage charges would increase by 4.7% .

Main image: Ciara Kelly in the Newstalk studio. Image: Newstalk