Last Updated: Friday, 14 December 2007 00:00

Water Charges for schools - another tax on parents

The Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) is calling on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government and the Minister for Education & Science to come up with a workable solution for schools on the question of water charges. "If not a derogation of these charges, then a direct payment from the DES budget to local authorities which would avoid high administration costs and additional VAT payments."

Seán Cottrell, director of IPPN, welcomed the report in yesterday's Irish Times that a senior EU commission environment directorate general official could "see no reason" why schools could not be exempted from paying the annual charges.

"The DES has consistently stated that because of the EU directive, schools would simply have to pay these charges. This information would seem to suggest that schools can be exempted. If this is true, then no time should be wasted in putting this in place." said Cottrell.

According to IPPN, the issue of water charges being levied on Primary Schools is a matter of serious concern to Boards of Management and especially to Principal Teachers. Water is a new expense to schools and despite the recent €15 increase in capitation grants, the overall increase in utility costs continues to out-strip any increase in schools' income. Local Authorities appear to be classifying schools as businesses in order to justify these charges. However, schools are not businesses, they do not manufacture or sell goods & services and they are certainly not in the "business" of making profit. Primary schools can not register as a public or private company and are unable to register for VAT.

"School Principals believe that the fundamental issue here is not water conservation. It is not about the greening of schools. It is that schools do not receive enough funds from the state to cover their basic running costs." said Mr. Cottrell. "Levying a charge on schools for water is a circular tax-collection mechanism. If schools pay these charges, they are simply re-circulating funds from the exchequer to local authorities. If schools received enough to cover costs, this might not be an issue. The problem is that schools have to fundraise for basic running costs. So, €1,000 comes from the DES for running costs and then the school has to pay this same €1,000 plus VAT to the local authority. The extra €210 is also supposed to come out of the state funding. However, the reality is that this extra money for water charges is simply not there. Parents and the local community are expected to fundraise to pay this new tax."

"Schools already do significant work through the curriculum in raising awareness around water conservation issues. We could do much more to improve the buildings and services we manage. If we had the money to do so. Refitting more eco-friendly and water conserving toilets; rainwater harvesting and other innovative measures could all be undertaken. But only if the necessary funding is available." said Mr. Cottrell. "There is no point in admonishing schools to save water and pay their charges in a scenario where most schools have to fundraise for up to half of their day-to-day bills from parents."