Spokesperson for Environment and Local Government Barry Cowen said the only reason Minister for Environment Alan Kelly established the grant was to secure Eurostat's approval for Irish Water.
Deputy Cowen said: "When Minister Kelly announced details of the grant payment it was transparently obvious that it was a desperate attempt to hoodwink Eurostat into giving a clean bill of health for Irish Water. However this stunt backfired spectacularly last July when Eurostat failed to endorse Irish Water and pointed out that the payment will not lead to any water being conserved.
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"This payment is nothing short of a gimmick and it is a petty attempt at buying off the public in exchange for people ignoring Minister Kelly’s mishandling of water charges. Unfortunately for the Minister it is clear that the Irish public will not be as forgiving as he perhaps first anticipated.
"This gimmick is set to cost the taxpayer up to €135m this year alone. So far to date the Irish taxpayer is €800m worse off as a result of the establishment of Irish Water. This is money that could have been invested in water infrastructure in order to stop leaks and conserve water. Not an extra cent is being spent on water infrastructure above the €500m per annum Fianna Fáil spent in Government."
(CD)
