FINANCE Minister, Michael Noonan has said that landlords are are not entitled to cut water off if they refuse to sign up to water charges.
In an interview with Newstalk radio, the Limerick Minister said that “they (Irish Water) are not entitled to cut people off…people need a water supply. They can limit that supply but if Irish water are not entitled then landlords are not”.
Speaking to broadcaster, Pat Kenny, Minister Noonan defended the decision to take in existing local authority staff into the new water company.
“These are the people with knowledge of the system. They have done their jobs to the best of their ability for many years,” he said.
Minister Noonan was speaking in the wake of a parliamentary party meeting at which serious concerns were raised about Irish Water and the way in which the new company is dealing with customers.
The Minister denied that budget 2015 was about buying votes for the next election.
“My priority was to give some relief to the coping classes..I wanted to make the tax system more work friendly”.
Minister Noonan said that the next election “will not be about any single issue. It will be about the economy – whether you’re in work or out of it,” he told Mr Kenny.
