Vol. 406 No. 2
41 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for the Environment if the Government have any plans to amend the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act, 1983 to provide for the abolition of water charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The legislation referred to is not obligatory and it is at the absolute discretion of each local authority to decide whether charges for services in its area are to be levied or not, and the scale of any such charges. I have no function in relation to the exercise of that discretion. I have no doubt, however, that the elected members, in considering their annual estimates of expenses, have careful regard to the needs of their area, the level and range of services to be provided, and, all of the sources of revenue, including charges, available to finance those services. Almost all local authorities currently charge for domestic services and have done so in successive years at their own discretion in order to provide and maintain the range of services which they consider appropriate. It is also apparent that the collection levels of those charges have vastly improved and it is expected that over 80 per cent of charges demanded this year will be collected, while those on low incomes benefit from the comprehensive waiver schemes operated at local level.
