The elected members of Mayo County Council have asked council management to write once more to the leaders of the three government parties and Ministers responsible for water charges, to meet with them in relation to non-domestic water charges.
Fianna Fáil council whip Cllr Damien Ryan raised the issue at the January meeting, asking had there been any response to the correspondence previously sent by the council.
Meetings administrator for the council, Síofra Kilcullen, told the meeting that the council had received acknowledgements from Minister Darragh O'Brien and Minister of State, Peter Burke's offices - but have yet to receive full updates.
Cllr Ryan responded, saying: "This can not be let go, I am asking again to write to the three party leaders and express our concerns and in relation to the correspondence from Minister O'Brien and Burke, if they are not prepared to send a representative, could they facilitate a virtual meeting for a delegation from this local authority; this needs to happen without delay and the sentiments expressed at the December meeting need to be forwarded to them again as this is extremely urgent."
Fine Gael councillor John O'Hara backed the calls, saying: "I would like to support Cllr Ryan in relation to this, it has been on our agenda for the last few months, between this and the Nitrates Directive it is going to be very hard for people living in the rural communities. We do need them down here and and they need to listen to what the people are telling us."
Fianna Fáil councillor Martin McLoughlin also supported the call, saying: "I support this, every councillor has this issue from local people, people are entitled to have answers on it and we don't have a whole lot of time to deal with it."
