IRISH WATER DEFENDS COSTS OF SETTING UP COMPANY
It has emerged that the costs of setting up Irish Water are almost twice the average of similar entities in England and Wales.
The company is defending the costs, saying the UK companies have existed for 25 years and have become efficient over that time.
In a statement, Irish Water says the system here has suffered from decades of under investment and it will take time to catch up with our UK counterparts.
It is estimated Irish water will cost around 180 million euro to set up.
Sinn Fein environment spokesperson, Brian Stanley, says taxpayers are funding a corporate monster:
“The Irish government have created, what I call, a corporate monster” he said.
“They have put on to the backs of the local authorities who are already doing the job, they have created a call centre, they have employed a whole range of staff that are paying themselves…in excess of 100,000 in the case of senior managers and senior executives”.
“And the public are picking up the bill for it, that’s what happening here – and it should be done by reformed local authorities” he added.
