Pensionersnot grantedwater chargewaiver

June 1986

Some householders who are entitled to a waiver in their water charges are not being granted this facility by the Urban Council, it was claimed this week.

In one particular case Cllr Dermot Tobin alleged that two old age pensioners and their unemployed son, who have only one water tap in the entire house, were refused a waiver.

‘ These people have no other toilet or bathroom facilities in their home and yet they are required to pay the full amount,’ said Cllr Tobin.

The issue was raised by Cllr Tommy Forde at Tuesday night’s meeting of the council when he asked that the councillors be notified on a regular basis of progress in the collection of water charges, arrears and the number of persons entitled to a waiver.

Officials informed him that to-date £30,000 had been collected compared to £53,500 for last year. A total of 490 people applied for a waiver and up to 95 per cent of these were deemed eligible.

Cllr Forde said that the public should be made aware of the criteria involved in being eligible for a waiver. He claimed that some people had received bills for the first time this year demanding payment for three years.

Cllr John Byrne said that some old people were being frightened with the threat of court proceedings despite the fact that they were on pensions and entitled to a waiver.

After a long discussion on the issue, acting County Manager Brian Johnston said that the council had an inordinate number of waiver applications in Bray.

‘He took a considerable amount of time to sort these out and at the end, less than ten per cent were refused.