Ireland’s wealthiest people have benefitted the most from the lack of water charges, according to an environmental expert.

It comes after Irish Water confirmed that no date has yet been agreed for the introduction of the Household Water Conservation Charge.

The charge would see house using more than 1.7 times the national average charged for their excess usage.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, environmental commentator John Gibbons said the Irish people pay around €1.5bn a year into Irish Water through general taxation.

“The funny thing is, that is a completely regressive taxation,” he said. “By that I mean, the person with the large house and the two-acre garden, the pond and the swimming pool if you like are basically getting a free ride on the person with the two-up, two-down and two kids.

“It is coming from general taxation so effectively regular folks are subsidising people who are very heavy water users.”

A gardener waters plants in his garden ahead of the Irish Water hosepipe ban, 08-06-2020. Image: RollingNews

He said it is a “myth” to suggest that water is free.

“Water is not free,” he said. “Water is much the same as other vital utilities that we use like electricity for gas in our homes – and none of us expect these to be free.”

He said that other than people who deliberately waste water, the people who use the most tend to be those with the biggest houses and the biggest gardens.

“I could never understand why the left took such a big stance on water charges,” he said.

“There is no other country in the OECD that does not have some kind of charge for water and there is a good reason for that.”

Mr Gibbons said the propose excess charge will see households charged €1.85 for every 1,000 litres of water they use over a limit of 213,000 litres.

“We had a recent climate report that said the east coast of Ireland is drying dramatically and we already have hosepipe bans and major water shortages on the east coast,” he said.

“So, if Irish water does not have some way of regulating the amount of water people use on the East Coast as our population expands, we are going to have really, really chronic water shortages in this part of the country in the years ahead,” he said.

Bríd Smith speaking to the media outside Leinster House this afternoon, 27-05-2020. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews

Earlier in the show, People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith welcomed the decision to delay the excess water charges.

“The Government knows that it would be hugely unpopular to impose that at this particular time when people’s incomes are reduced and are struggling,” she said.

“The stats show and we found this out when we had the special commission on water in the Oireachtas – there is a very small minority of people who actually waste water to the degree that the imagination tells you or that Irish Water claimed in the past.

“We, on average, use less water than people in Britain or Europe and the bulk of wastewater is through a lack of repair on the infrastructure and leakages that are happening.”

In a statement, Irish Water the excess charge is a “vital measure to safeguard Ireland’s water supply for the future.”

It said it is still Government policy to introduce a Household Water Conservation charge to “encourage people to tell Irish Water of suspected leaks at their home and to act as a deterrent to wastage.”