Deadline for €100 water conservation grant extended by two weeks

Irish Water is expected to take control of collecting water charges from commercial customers next year

Sam Griffin

The deadline for the €100 water conservation grant has been extended by two weeks, Environment Minister Alan Kelly has announced.

There has been a surge in households registering for the grant over the last 48 hours ahead of tonight’s midnight deadline. Households will now have until Thursday October 22 to apply.

Additional helpline numbers had been set up by the Department of Social Protection, who are charged with administering the payment, to deal with the in flux of late calls.

But earlier today some 500,000 households looked set to miss out on registering in time with some 1.3 million homes eligible for the grant.

Minister Kelly said: “The last few days have seen a very high number of applications for the Water Conservation Grant. Water conservation is one of the Government’s main objectives in reforming the public water system and I am keen to facilitate as many applications as possible for this conservation grant.

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“Therefore, I have agreed with my colleague, Tánaiste Joan Burton, to allow applications for an extra two weeks. Households can apply online or by calling the Water Conservation Grant Support Team until Thursday, 22 October. I would urge all households who have not applied, whether they are Irish Water customers or not, but believe they are eligible for the grant, to apply as soon as possible and to avoid leaving it to the last minute.”

Tanaiste Joan Burton said resources would continue to be put in place to support the water conservation grant helpline teams.

More than 760,000 households have applied for the grant which is more than the number that paid bills in the first billing cycle.

Those looking to register can visit www.watergrant.ie.