Money Provided For Irish Water For Local Authority Voluntary Redundancies

Money provided for irish water for local authority voluntary redundancies

Irish Water is to be given money to fund over 1-thousand voluntary redundancies at local authorities. A memorandum brought to Government by Environment Minister Phil Hogan sought the money to slim down the new semi-State body as it takes over responsibility from councils. Earlier this year, the ESRI's Professor John Fitzgerald said Irish Water would be so over-staffed it would lead to higher charges for Irish households. This new memorandum from Environment Minister Phil Hogan is aimed at giving clarity to how the semi-state is going to slim down as it takes over responsibility from city and county councils. Irish Water is being given about 39 million euro to secure 11-hundred voluntary redundancies from local authorities - who will otherwise have to be paid for by the new firm. TheNews comes amid Cabinet tensions about the final bill for water charges - and mounting public opposition. Contractors in Co Cork were yesterday blocked from installing meters in Toker after a stand-off with protesters.