Irish Water will need almost €300m from the Government to make up the cost of water charges. They expect to have a €123m cash shortfall this year alone according to the Irish Independent.
The Government suspended charges for nine months from July 1st until March 31st 2017 to allow an experts to examine the funding requirements needed to upgrade the whole network.
Documents show that the Government was advised of the financial costs of abolishing bills, which required families to pay between €160 and €260 a year for their water.
The documents prepared by Irish Water set out the shortfall for this year, and future funding requirements under two scenarios – if bills came back into force, or if charges are permanently abolished.
They show the utility expects to face a revenue shortfall of €125m in 2017 even if bills are re-instated. It expected to collect around €270m from domestic customers.
