Limerick language school boss slams ‘farcical’ bill from Uisce Eireann

THE DIRECTOR of a local language school has said a “farcical” bill from Uisce Eireann demanding over €2,000 has forced him to close his second city campus.

David Russell, the director of Ned language college in the city centre, has received an ask for €2,233 from the firm formerly known as Irish Water for a building rented at Lock Quay.

But he says in reality, staff and students visiting the campus would have used a fraction of this over the 18 months the bill covered.

“The building has five classrooms, plus a couple of offices. There would be students in there in the morning and afternoon and perhaps five staff members,” he said.

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Mr Russell pointed out that Ned College has another operation in Dublin, serving close to 900 students a day.

The annual water bill for that from Uisce Eireann was around €600, he added.

“I would suggest that if a building which is four or five times bigger with 900 students per day, if we are paying in the region of €600 for that, I would imagine a small building with five classrooms would be significantly less.”

Although Ned College is based near St John’s Cathedral, extra students saw it rent the second building elsewhere in the city.
They moved into the building in 2022 after bringing it up to standard, but following a period where it was left vacant, he has been left with no choice but to keep it out of use.

That, Mr Russell said, is because when college staff returned to the building, there was no water running from the taps.

He added he has been told the only way to have the supply switched on is to pay the bill - plus a €500 reconnection fee.

Mr Russell says he will do this, grudgingly, to ensure the building is not left idle while rent is being paid on it.

Jamiur Rahman, the Limerick manager of Ned, and one of the 30 people the college employs locally said costs like this have an impact in a tight market.

“We are struggling with everything at the moment. Our flow of students has become lower, and it's a lot of money to be spending,” he said.

In response, Uisce Eireann wrote: "Businesses connected to the public water and wastewater network are billed in line with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities’ non-domestic tariff framework, with every business across the country subject to a clear, transparent, equitable charging regime regardless of location, business type etc. Similar to other regulated utilities the framework is a per connection approach."

A spokesperson for the firm suggested if any customer experiences a spike in their bill, it could relate to a leak.

"Customers can phone the contact centre and avail of leak allowance once certain criteria is met and evidence of a fix (by way of a plumber’s report) is provided. The account is then adjusted to what would account for typical consumption," the firm said.