This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7683315.stm

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Water bosses face money questions NI Water 'facing £7m shortfall'
(28 minutes later)
Managers from Northern Ireland Water (NIW) have faced questions from assembly members over a multi-million pound shortfall in its accounts. Northern Ireland Water is facing a cash shortfall of up to £7m, according to its chairman.
The company's chairman Chris Mellor said the shortfall in the finances for this year could be as high as £7m. Chris Mellor has outlined problems in the company's finances to the Assembly's Regional Development Committee.
NIW said the loss was due to a downturn in demand. He said that an error in thousands of business customers' bills should have been identified earlier.
Mr Mellor also said errors in the billing of business customers which led to a deficit of about £750,000 should have been identified earlier. "Those who have paid too much will be fully compensated," said a Northern Ireland Water spokeswoman.
In July the Utility Regulator criticised NIW for its accounting procedures. "We have still to decide our approach towards those who have not paid enough.
'Unseasonably wet'
"Our approach will be based on ensuring fairness of treatment for all our customers and the taxpayer. Importantly, this issue will have no impact on households.
"In the area of revenue, a number of factors including unseasonably wet weather, a downturn in the housing market, difficult economic conditions and data quality appear to have combined to mean that less revenue than expected will be generated from business customers over the second half of this year."