Deferring water charges in Northern Ireland would cost around £265 million over the next three years, the Members of the Legislative Assembly have been told. The figures were given to a Stormont Assembly Committee by a senior official in the Department of Regional Development (DRD) on Wednesday 23 May 2007, with Democratic Unionist Party member Jim Wells describing them as "not encouraging."
The new Northern Ireland Executive has already set aside £75 million to meet the cost of deferring the charges for the coming 12 months, a fact we reported back in the April 2007 Monthly Bulletin. The new charging system, which was established under the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order SI 2006/3336, was due to start on 1 April and was to be phased in over three years. It has been estimated that deferring these charges for a further year after that would cost £165 million, rising to £265 million by 2009.
Not introducing the highly controversial charges in 2007 - 2008 was the first decision of the power-sharing executive, with First Minister Ian Paisley deciding to conduct a review to address the financing of the water and sewerage services, which should be completed by the Autumn. Not imposing these charges will save the average Northern Ireland household around £100 in the year ahead.
