School principals all over the country have breathed a sigh of relief following the Government's U-turn on the contentious issue of water charges.

Mary Smith, Principal of Scoil Caitríona Junior School in Renmore, said she was "delighted" with the two year exemption on water charges that schools were given just before Christmas. "We won't mind paying the flat rate, as long as they give us enough money to pay it."

The issue had come to the fore after several schools nationally complained that they were unable to pay their water bills.

However, the Dáil reached a decision on Tuesday 19 December, to give schools a two-year exemption from usage-based water charges, and to give a flat rate instead. Schools are now saying they will wait to see what the flat charges are.

The issue of private operators running water-billing services was also raised by the Opposition during the debate. Veolia (the same company running the Luas in Dublin) provides a water billing service to Galway City Council.

Mrs Smith said she has had difficulty understanding the billing system in operation. "It's always private operators doing this kind of thing; it's a feature of life today. We haven't been paying the bills, but they never came the heavy on us, so there must have been some question about this all along."

Scoil Caitríona is a 'Green School' and pupils there use only cold water in efforts to conserve the precious resource. A spokesperson for Galway City Council said that the council's Water Conservation Officer, Dr Aoife Collins, will be working closely with schools to help them cut down on their water usage, in conjunction with the council's 'Slow the Flow' campaign.

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