Catherine Murphy TD to the Dáil yesterday: A superb summary of - TopicsExpress

Catherine Murphy TD to the Dáil yesterday: A superb summary of the Irish Water situation. Worth reading it ALL because today is the 10th of December, and it might provoke some response to the Irish Water Debacle: “Here we are today, almost 12 months to the week, that you rammed through the Water legislation and gave us a year of confusion and anger. A year of one scandal after another. The reason we’re back here is because of ‘old politics’. The type of politics that is about arrogance; a Government using a huge majority to dismiss dissenting voices; a Government taking citizens for granted, cronyisms, strokes and ultimately a super-Quango paid for by tax-payers.” “We’re back here because everything about this Irish Water fiasco has been flawed from the outset. I’ll say it again, Irish people are not fools. They were told that the Bord Gáis partnership was designed to save money then they watched as the Minister eventually disclosed that he knew the consultants (the usual suspects) were going to be paid almost €90 million.” “They knew that they were being turned from citizens into customers and they resented that. Hugely. If there is one thing Irish people know about it is debt and they know that if they allow themselves to become customers then they will be responsible for repaying all the debt incurred in setting up this Quango and the money it borrows.” “This has been mired in controversy from the outset and if you hoped that this Bill was going to dismiss that controversy then you are mistaken. You cannot keep dismissing these controversies. All these controversies have not only undermined any chance of people having confidence in Irish water but also eroded confidence in this Government.” “But there are more controversies that are yet to come to the fore and one of these are the circumstances surrounding the awarding of the metering contract. There are major concerns on this issue, and understandably so.” “Firstly there is absolutely a question to be answered as to why the cheaper installation offer from Siemens was dismissed. We must have an answer to that question. Why did you choose to accept a more expensive option that required us to borrow from the Pension Reserve Fund with massive interest costs?” “Next we have got to get answers to the questions regarding the awarding of the contract. There is a key date here and that is June 2013. In a PQ reply on June 12th 2013, Minister Hogan confirmed that the 30th of June 2013 would the closing date for bidders to apply to be considered for the metering contract. GMC/SIERRA (Company Registration number 530230) was one of the successful bidders. GMC/SIERRA was awarded a metering contract. But, and this is key, that same company, registration number 530230 did not come into existence, legally, until the 15th of July 2013. 15 days after the closing date for bids. How is it that an entity that did not exist when the deadline closed was awarded a contract? GMC/SIERRA – a company with Denis O’Brien as a vested party – was somehow awarded a contract before it even existed.” “Even to tender for the contract requires, under both EU and Irish Law, a certificate of tax compliance. How could an entity that did not exist in law, get a tax clearance certificate? These questions need answering. They will not go away and they are being routinely spoken about across social media and online media outlets such as Broadsheet.ie” “What really sits uneasy with people is the debt burden and, in particular, Anglo debt, that was placed on peoples shoulders. That same debt burden that underpins all the austerity measures, including Irish Water. They watched helplessly as Anglo debt was turned into sovereign debt, placing a noose around their necks for decades to come. 500 million to be extinguished each year from now up to 2022, then one thousand million from 2022 to 2025 then 2 thousand million EVERY year until it’s all gone.” “In that context, imagine the anger that comes with seeing a company called Millington – another company owned by Denis O’Brien – a company established to buy Siteserv, a company who owed Anglo €150 million being sold onto Denis O’Brien’s Millington by Anglo for just €45 million. A discount of €105 million. Essentially, €105 million lost to the State. Interestingly, the €45 million paid for Siteserv was reportedly the lowest bid for the company. Yet it was accepted. Do we have an answer as to why?” “It should also be noted here that SIERRA is a subsidiary of the aforementioned Siteserv. It gets muddier. There are suggestions that, contrary to all best practice models, the legal firm Arthur Cox, acted for the seller, Anglo, and the purchaser, Millington, during this transaction. If this is the case, then that is another question that deserves an answer.” “The Taoiseach keeps telling us that this is about more than water. He’s right, it is. It is about people power. It is about people demanding what they demanded before the last General Election. It’s about people demanding different politics. Reform. People are realising that we should not have been exposed to the debt burden that was placed on us. 43% of the entire European banking debt shouldered by one country, us. People know that was unfair.” “People wanted – expected – this Government, to respect the economic limits of households. They expected this Government to spend wisely. The last thing they expected was to see a hugely inflated, super-quango. December 10 will be an incredibly important date. As important as October 11th was, when over 100,00 people took to the streets, the people who were saying ‘Why haven’t we done this before’ and the people who found strength in the sense of solidarity and realised – it’s not the people who are in power that matters, it’s the power that is in the people.”