Water costs mount up for HSE

New figures have shown that the cost of providing water to the Health Service Executive's (HSE) hospitals and health centres in the midwest of Ireland has skyrocketed.


Spending has almost doubled overall with an increase of 89 per cent and some facilities have more than tripled their water budget.

According to figures quoted in the Irish Times, more than euro 1m has been spent on water between 2006 and 2008, with a payment of almost euro 470,000 last year.

Some of the most costly facilities included Nenagh General Hospital, which tripled its spending from euro 6,700 to euro 21,813.

More costly still was St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis, which more than doubled its costs from euro 22,923 to euro 49,736.

The figures were acquired by Green Party councillor Brian Meaney, who believes that people underestimate the value of water.

“I have always said it, there should be a flat rate charge to every home and obviously there are exemptions for households who would be facing hardship,” he told the news provider.

“Water is a vital resource and by only placing a charge on it will make people come to appreciate its true value.”

The world’s most precious resource could become a big problem for coastal Ireland if scientists in Copenhagen are correct; a conference recently heard that sea levels could rise by twice their predicted rate due to a miscalculation.

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