Water Charges, theyre controversial, if you want to know my views, read the extract below from a recent article I wrote. All comments welcome. The meters are in (mostly), and as of October 1st, people are being charged for water. We will get our first bill in January. The focus on Irish Water is now at fever pitch levels. The campaign of boycott by the Socialist Party and the Anti Austerity Alliances is now underway. The Socialist Party have two TDs in Dail Eireann and as it happens they are both in this constituency of Dublin West. Hence the campaign of boycott led by Ruth Coppinger and Joe Higgins will likely be particularly strong in the wider Blanchardstown area. I am against this boycott because I believe in the principle of paying for water. Throughout this debate many have claimed that we already pay for water through our taxes. This is true in that up until now the provision of water cost the state €1.2 Billion per year and that this is obviously funded by the taxpayer. However, there was little accountability in that €1.2 Billion and as has been well documented, the service provided was extremely inefficient with a staggering 40% of treated water nation wide being lost to leaks. This was a disastrous state of affairs and despite what opponents of Irish Water say, the money to invest to fix this problem simply wasnt available. One of the reasons the recession hit Ireland so hard was that in addition to the rotten banking sector, there was a general failure to link productivity and performance to cost, particularly in the public service. Nothing quite illustrates this like the inefficient way water was provided. During a recent meeting held by Joe Higgins in Blanchardstown in which his boycott strategy was laid out, he stated that the vast majority of Irelands national debts is banking debt. This is completely inaccurate. Irelands national debt is over €200 Billion. Fifty Billion of this is existing debt, sixty five is banking debt. This leaves nearly €90 Billion Euro that the state has had to borrow since the crisis just to pay for our services. With such unsustainable levels of debt the government simply had to confront some difficult truths. One such truth was that we needed to change our culture toward water wastage in this country. This is where Irish Water (in theory) comes in. With the establishment of Irish Water the responsibility for providing water in Ireland has been transferred away from Co Councils who could not afford it. But this is not the solution in itself. The success of Irish Water remains to be seen. My job, as a County Councillor is to ensure that Irish Water fulfills its new role satisfactorily. I share the concerns of many people about the wages and cost of setting up Irish Water. I will demand that Irish Water does make the investments in infrastructure (to fix the leaky pipes) that the councils were incapable of doing. I will do all I can to ensure that the company provides the quality service that the people deserve. If it fails to do this, I will not be silent. In the meantime, it looks like things will inevitably heat up in certain housing estates where protests are due to occur. As I have made clear I oppose the boycott but I accept that the we wont pay campaign is going to take place. However I am calling on all political reps in Dublin West do discourage and disassociate themselves from the protests that occur where water meters are being installed. These protest are getting increasingly nastier and its is entirely predictable that they will lead to scuffles between Gardai, protesters and Irish Water staff. People may feel strongly about water charges, but I can guarantee that the people of Dublin West do not want to see the type of demonstrations that you can see below, happening in their estates. youtube/watch?v=srJE5q2Ka-c
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 19:30:25 +0000
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