Cowen calls on Cabinet to withdraw approval of Irish Water bonuses

Fianna Fáil Environment Spokesperson Barry Cowen has called on the Cabinet to immediately put a stop to the payment of bonuses at Irish Water.

Deputy Cowen said tomorrow’s weekly Cabinet meeting provides an opportunity for Ministers to reverse their decision to approve the awarding of bonuses to Irish Water bosses.

“A number of Cabinet Ministers have come out in recent days to wring their hands and criticise the bonuses available to Irish Water staff. But these salary top-ups are only available at Irish Water because of the Cabinet’s own actions.  It’s now up to the Cabinet to put a stop to it immediately,” said Deputy Cowen.

“The Cabinet approved the awarding of the Irish Water contract to Bord Gáis against the advice of the independent report that the Government itself commissioned.  In doing this, they deliberately opened the door to a generous bonus system at Irish Water.  This is the only reason that bonuses averaging €7,000 are available to Irish Water staff.

“This flies in the face of the Government’s rhetoric on changing the culture around pay and bonuses in the public and semi state sectors.  It flies in the face of the spirit of the Haddington Road agreement which targets the public sector pay bill.  It also does real damage to public confidence in an organisation that has now been given €11 Billion of public assets and will soon begin billing every home in the country.

“If Ministers really are concerned about the use of taxpayers’ funds at Irish Water, this issue must be on the agenda at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting.  The Cabinet must withdraw its approval of the generous bonus system that has been put in place at Irish Water.”