Anyone who registered their principal private residence with Irish Water by 30 June 2015 was invited to apply for a Water Conservation Grant. This is an annual payment administered by the Department of Social Protection, on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.
For a transition period, Irish Water have a “first fix free” scheme that will fix some customer leaks. Some leaks, though, may be internal to the house and these do not appear to be covered by this scheme. Therefore the Water Conservation Grant can be used to help with the costs of fixing leaking cisterns, dripping taps and so on. Alternatively the grant could be used for buying items that help a household conserve water, such as dual flush toilets or water butts. Having said that there is no audit on how the money is spent. So a household is free to use the money as it wishes.
The closing date for applying for the grant was 8 October 2015.
For 2015 the grant was €100 and it is generally paid direct into bank accounts.
It has now been confirmed by the Revenue that the Water Conservation Grant is exempt from income tax. This means that the payments are also exempt from USC and PRSI.