WE NEED A BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS - IRISH WATER CHARGES

It is not unusual for me to get queries following the government’s unilateral decisions to introduce a charge, fee or tax but up until last week I seemed to have escaped all the backlash of the water charges. I thought the only problems water charges would cause would be in our Conveyancing department where, in a similar vein to property taxes, we would be calculating water charges on a pro-rate bases and trying to sort out who owes what and to where!

Last week however a new client arrived for his consultation after receiving a maintenance summons in the post. As with all maintenance applications the starting point is trying to ascertain your monthly income and expenditure. We have a standard form that your fill out to make it simpler. It was inevitable that we mentioned the water charges which are due to be paid at some point in January 2015. Given that my client was in a shared parenting course and had at least 50% access to his four children I assumed he would be entitled to at least some benefit of the children’s water allowance. 

I followed this query up with an email last week to IrishWater.ie but after 6 days we had still received no response. I telephoned the company last night and after pressing several digits and waiting for over 15 minutes I eventually spoke to a nice lady who confirmed that he will not be entitled to any benefit of the water allowance despite having 50% access. 

Why? Well that’s simple, he is the father! In Ireland the mother is entitled to the child benefit and the person receiving the child benefit also receives the child water allowance. 

This is yet another appalling decision made contrary to fathers and their rights. We all know that child benefit is given to mothers and it is the exception that it is awarded to fathers. Every time I feel like we are making progress to get both parents to have equal rights I hear of yet another step backwards and it is infuriating. We certainly need to work on a bridge over these troubled waters - in every sense of the phrase.