Kildare businesses should be compensated when the water runs dry
Outages are a ‘systemic and foreseeable disruption’
A call has been made for businesses to be compensated when there is no water available.
Kildare County Council should set up a “business relief scheme” which would provide a proportional rebate or a credit against the commercial rates that the businesses pay to KCC.
Social Democrats councillor Paula Mulroe said the scheme should be set up when the rates are established for 2027.
Cllr Mulroe said it would apply to businesses “forced to close due to successive water outages by Uisce Éireann.”
And it should be calculated on a ”pro-rata daily basis relative to their annual rates liability.”
Cllr Mulroe also said registered childcare and elderly care facilities should be included where they have additional operational costs as a result of water being cut off in situations where they are unable to close.
She wants KCC to establish a straightforward self-declaration application process, with supporting documentation such as Uisce Éireann outage records “for businesses and facilities to claim relief, minimising (the) administrative burden on (businesses).”
Cllr Mulroe said this measure would “recognise that the repeated and ongoing nature of these Uisce Éireann enforced outages have moved beyond the threshold of an occasional inconvenience.”
She added the outages are a “systemic and foreseeable disruption to commerce and care provision in County Kildare.”