There is genuine concern around the changes being made to non-domestic water charges. There is strong opposition among rural communities to increases in water charges for non-domestic customers and the changes to the standing charge per water meter. On the one hand, we see the effective doubling of the volumetric charge on water, and on the other, while the standing charge is decreasing for many customers, a charge per meter will see many receiving significantly higher bills, especially farmers. It will be particularly impactful for farmers, who face a standing charge on every field water meter on their land. This especially impacts farmers with fragmented landholdings. It is a very unfair charge and both Irish Water and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, need to engage with local authorities and representative organisations on this issue.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. A new non-domestic water tariff framework was introduced by Irish Water on 1 October. The CRU determines the charges and charging arrangements that apply to non-domestic customers. There will be a three-year transition arrangement. What is happening essentially is 57 different charging regimes and more than 900 different charges are being consolidated over the course of the next three years. Under this arrangement, any annual bill increase above €250 will be spread across three years. It is important to say that when it comes to the new tariff system, 46% of customers will see a decrease, 50% of customers will see an increase of less than €250, 1.6% of customers will see an increase of between €250 and €500, and 1.7% of customers will see a bill increase greater than that. It is going to be phased in over a three-year period to help people adjust to the change.