Water meters to be installed in coming weeks

Seamus Enright

Irish Water has announced it is to begin the controversial process of installing thousands of meters at homes and businesses in counties Cavan and Monaghan in the coming weeks.
As part of the nationwide roll-out of what is the most ambitious metering programme of its type ever undertaken, advance notification of at least 14 days will be issued to each householder before meters are installed. Information packs outlining the details of the installation process will also be posted including a date for when meters will be installed.
There are no upfront costs for the installation of the meters, with water charges introduced from the first quarter of this year after the government imposed a guillotine on the Water Services Bill before the Christmas break to get it pushed through.
Homeowners, meanwhile, will be issued with their first bills for water usage from April of this year, with families living in a house without a water meter set to be charged at a fixed rate.
Meters will be installed outside domestic residences connected to the public water mains generally between 7.30am and 7.30pm, Monday to Friday, and between 8am and 1pm on Saturdays.
Each meter installation is said to take from 15 minutes to two hours, depending on the work to be carried out.
Meters are placed in a meter box, fitted underground in the public footpath outside the homeowner’s property.
However, the process of installing meters has been blighted with issues since first starting, with protests in some areas and unscrupulous thieves targeting vulnerable homeowners in some areas claiming to be genuine water meter installers.
To combat this, Irish Water have issued a statement, telling members of the public that their staff and installers all carry identity cards and “will never ask” to enter a person’s home.
“Always ask to see ID whenever installers call. Your security is our priority,” reads a statement.

Attacks
Elsewhere, staff at the company tasked with installing meters across counties Cavan, Monaghan, Louth, Longford, Meath and Westmeath, Coffey Northumbrian have come under attack, with the most serious incident of late occurring at an estate in Co Louth where a work van was petrol bombed.
Gardaí are still investigating the attack at the Ballsgrove Estate in Drogheda, which saw an incendiary device explode on the vehicle’s roof, setting it alight near to where an anti-water charge protest was taking place.
Other incidents of violence against meter installers include workers being threatened with knives and other weapons; excrement being smeared on safety barriers; and stones, fireworks and other objects thrown at windows, tyres and lights on vehicles. Commenting on the start of the Irish Water metering in Cavan and Monaghan, Irish Water, Managing Director, John Tierney said: “We have been working closely with the county council for a number of months to ensure that plans are in place for the efficient and managed rollout of our water metering programme.
“I would like to compliment their staff for the highly professional manner in which they have helped us prepare for this programme.
“We are committed to installing water meters with minimum inconvenience to householders and communities.”