Water Framework Directive, River Basin Management Plan, 9.4 Exemption, Fianna Fáil, Right2Water Trade Unions. A case of Ryan's Daughter

We run the risk of being boring but feel it is important to focus attention and zone in on some highly significant events in the long saga of the Irish 'Water Charges' controversy.   The events we will highlight here and in future articles are; 1) The Water Framework Directive-2000/60/EC', 2)  Ireland's River Basin Management Plan, 3)  Article 9.4, the Irish Exemption, 4) The Water Services Act 2013 and 5) EU/IMFBank Bailout of 2010.   

Because of the relevance of these events and how the Government and EU bureaucrats interpret and use them, one would think that the anti water charges' campaign leaders would delve into these cornerstones of Irish and EU Water Policies.  For whatever reason they are not.  The Government and pro 'Water Charges' lobby are being allowed set the agenda, pick and choose selective interpretations,  misrepresent events and rely on secrecy.

They should not be let them off the hook easily.  Instead their versions of facts must be countered, historical inaccuracies highlighted and political intrigues and revisionism exposed.  Like the sleeked, slimy, two faced, greedy shopkeeper and publican, Tom Ryan, in Ryan's Daughter, we are being duped into thinking that politicians and individuals are on our side when in fact these very same erstwhile supporters are pursuing their own agenda whether it be party opportunism or personal aggrandisement.     

Despite what any Minister, EU bureaucrat or IMF/EU Troika official say the fact remains that the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and Article 9.4 of the directive is in force today and our water policy is being driven by the first cycle of the River Basin Management Plan, the main stipulation in the Water Framework Directive.  No amount of political juggling or threats can change this.  How can anyone have plans and agreements if they do not stick to them?


Not only should the anti water charge movement to try to find out the truth about the events, it should also hold to account all those who have made the water issue a political football for the past forty years.   This dogged pursuit by the political elite, the EU bureaucrats and international financiers has been relentless.  It is hard to accept the hypocrisy of sidestepping the democratic wish of the Irish people that our water resource should belong to the people of Ireland and funded through general taxation.  What is just as hard to accept is the belief that politicians seem to have that their actions, misrepresentations, rhetoric and even lies are acceptable, their reason being that it's the nature of politics.   

Buncrana Together have written quite a bit already on the above events (search our archives for Water Framework Directive or 9.4 exemption), however, we feel there is much more to come out and that the anti water chargescampaign has lost focus or worse led down the garden path. We are being fooled into thinking that 'Water Charges is as good as abolished'.  Indeed the charges have been suspended but only until Minister Coveney's hand picked 'Independent Commission on Domestic Water Charges' reports back sometime after November this year, after which a vote will be taken on the issue in the Dáil. Members of Fianna Fáil are the biggest culprits in spreading this line.  However, what they do not tell about are events that are happening behind the scenes, events like the second cycle of the River Basin Management Plan.   We say never mind what you might do next year, what are you doing now?  We have asked Fianna Fáil what is their position on the Water Framework Directive, the River Basin Management Plan and the 9.4 Exemption.  To date we have had no reply.  

It is one thing for politicians and EU bureaucrats to manipulate facts, to act in secret, ignore citizens.  We have, somehow, got used to this political chicanery.  However it is another thing altogether when those on the side of the anti water charges' campaign also ignore seemingly vital events.   The Right2Water Trade Union assumed leaders have also ignored requests for explanations and to concentrate on the Water Framework Directive, the River Basin Management Plan and the 9.4 Exemption.    In doing so they are allowing the pro water charges' camp, (and maybe not pro camps), to dictate the agenda and use selective propaganda without being questioned.  It is a case of 'Nero fiddled while Rome burned'.

River Basin Management Districts

Would it surprise you know that right at this moment the Government the Irish River Basin Management Districts are actively engaged in drafting the second stage of the River Basin Management Plan?   

What is so significant about this second cycle River Basin Management Plan, is that it will be Ireland's de facto Water Policy into the future.  If it is allowed to continue,  unopposed, it will include 'Pricing Policy', including domestic water charges,  'Metering' and the entity and structure of Irish Water Ltd will be firmly entrenched.  It will quietly ignore the 9.4 Exemption and our long established practice of Water Policy will end.   The new River Basin Management Plan will become part of EU Water Policy, signed sealed and delivered.  

No matter what some may lead you to believe now, when the time comesand all the plans are put in placethe same political parties and individualwho told us to have faith, will wash their hands of it and say 'the decision has already been made'.

By Bjørn Christian Tørrissen - The beach between Slea Head and Dunmore Head on the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland, location where scenes for Ryan's Daughter were filmed.

Water Issue since 1977 - brief history - Political expediency and European pressure

Our thanks go to Wikipedia and all those who contributed to this short synopsis of the Irish water controversy since the mid 1970s.  We included the numbered links to the excellent references in the original article.

It may be pertinent or it may be one hell of a coincidence that this contentious history starts just a few years after Ireland joined the European Economic Community (EEC) on 1st January 1973.  Indeed history will verify that European bureaucrats and international financiers have for the past 40 years been involved in putting political pressure on Ireland to charge domestic users for water.  This pressure culminated in the Banking Crisis of 2007-2008 which eventually led Brian Lenihan on behalf of the Fianna Fáil/Green coalition signing a bailout agreement with the EU/IMF, the European Troika on 16th December, 2010.

Top prize must go to the quote by John Gormley, Green Party.  This quote epitomises political expediency practiced by all relevant parties in the modern day history of Irish water supply

"In 2008, the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, Green Party leader and former Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1994–1995 during the water charges conflict, said that domestic water charges would not be introduced during the lifetime of the government."
 

We hope the Wikipedia page will be updated soon and if so that more emphasis be put on 'The Water Services Act 2013', legislation which gave legal approval for the creation of Irish Water Ltd, water charges and metering.   If this information is added it will be interesting to see whether anything will be said about why none of the opposing political parties deemed it not necessary to call for it abolition.

History since 1977

The history of water supply in Ireland since the mid-1970s was dominated by controversies about whether there should be charges for domestic water supply.  Domestic water charges were first abolished in 1977, only to be reintroduced by some local authorities following legislation in 1983 authorising them to do so. Domestic water charges were then prohibited by legislation in 1997 following an anti-water charges campaign from 1994 to 1997. This resulted in a legal prohibition of domestic water charges at national level.

First abolition of domestic water charges

Domestic rates, which financed the cost of water services were abolished for the first time by a Fianna Fáil government, following the 1977 general election. In the same period, an increase took place in Income Tax and Value Added Tax. The revenue from these increases, and from borrowing which was very high during the late 1970s and early 1980s, was to be used to fund the local authorities, which had previously relied on domestic rates for their funding. From then on the central government paid a "rate support grant" to Local Authorities.[37]

However, in 1983 the then Fine Gael-Labour government decided to cut this grant and passed legislation to allow councils to levy service charges. This was perceived by some as "double taxation", since the previously increased taxes remained at their high levels. Opponents also argued that rates were unrelated to consumption and that there were insufficient provisions to protect the poor.

Dublin fight against water charges 1994–1997

Many councils decided to introduce water charges, while others such as Dublin initially decided against introducing them. After water charges were introduced in Dublin in 1994, an anti-water charges campaign was initiated and included demonstrations and a boycott of the new charges.[38] The city threatened to cut the water supply to those who did not pay. After lengthy court battles, some non-paying users were cut off, but the non-payment of water charges continued.[37] On 19 December 1996, on the eve of general elections, the Minister for the Environment Brendan Howlin from the Labour Party of the Rainbow Government of Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left announced that the water charge was going to be replaced by a new system in which motor tax collected in each area would be the source for local council funding.

Second abolition of domestic water charges

Domestic water charges in Ireland were thus prohibited under the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act 1997, passed in May 1997 shortly before the June 1997 general elections in which Fine Gael lost to Fianna Fáil under Bertie Ahern. However, given popular discontent the new government chose not to pursue domestic water charges. Instead, it embarked on extensive consultations which resulted in the 1998 water services pricing policy. The policy banned cross-subsidy of domestic services from non-domestic charges. For non-domestic users, the policy required the recovery of average operational and marginal capital costs of water services from these users. It also foresaw the metering of all non-domestic users by 2006. Domestic operational costs were to be paid for through a local government fund, and capital costs were to be financed through the capital programme of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.[39]

As a result, according to one critical observer, "a generation of people is growing up without realizing that water is expensive to deliver". According to a water industry source, Irish households use more water than UK metered equivalents. Investment costs are rising as water is accessed from further afield and from water bodies that are potentially sensitive fish habitats.[40]

Water Services Bill 2003

The Water Services Bill 2003 was presented to the Oireachtas by then Environment Minister, Martin Cullen of Fianna Fáil. The bill was designed to consolidate Ireland's existing body of 15 different enactments into a single act, and to transpose EU water legislation. Cullen called it "the first root and branch consolidation and modernisation of water services law for more than 120 years since the Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878", adding that "like the Victorian sewers which we have upgraded or replaced, this Bill replaces Victorian legislation with a new modern legal framework."[41] The bill covered the management of water supply and sanitation, not wider environmental issues surrounding water resources.

In September 2004 Cullen's successor, Environment Minister Dick Roche, also of Fianna Fáil, defended the proposed bill in Dáil Éireann. There he was faced with charges that the bill was a "Trojan horse to introduce privatisation and domestic water charges". The Opposition also criticised the lack of a statutory right of access to water in the bill, lack of public participation in the review of proposed strategic plans, calling the bill "a thinly disguised attempt to privatise the water supply" as well as "a formula to get around the 1997 Act and re-introduce water charges by another name."[42] Ultimately, the bill was not passed.

According to one commentator, if the Water Services Bill, 2003, had been passed earlier and implemented effectively, people would not now have had to boil their drinking water in Galway in 2007 because of an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis.[43]

2007 Water Services Act

In May 2007, the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition enacted the Water Services Act 2007. As well as updating and consolidating existing legislation, the Act also:

  • introduced a licensing system to regulate group water schemes
  • assigned the EPA with responsibility for supervision of sanitary authority water supplies
  • strengthened administrative arrangements for planning the delivery of water services at national and local level
  • placed duties of care on water services users regarding water conservation; prevention of risk to public health and the environment; and the protection of collection and distribution networks.

Fianna Fáil-Green Party government (2007–2011) policy

In 2008, the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, Green Party leader and former Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1994–1995 during the water charges conflict, said that domestic water charges would not be introduced during the lifetime of the government. He also said water shortages would be a key issue that Ireland would have to grapple with in the future. The Minister said there were other ways of tackling potential shortages which have already left some larger urban areas – particularly Dublin – struggling to meet demand during prolonged dry spells. The main focus of government policy would be to reduce the leakages from main water supply pipes.[44]

In October 2009, however, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party agreed on a Renewed Programme for Government, which pledged to introduce domestic water charges based on a system of a free allowance per household, with charges only on usage in excess of the allowance. In October 2010, the administration's 'National Recovery Plan 2010–2014' pledged that metering would form part of charges. Metering was to be introduced by 2014. As part of the EC-ECB-IMF Programme of Assistance to Ireland, agreed in November 2010, the Coalition agreed to the introduction of domestic water charges in 2012/2013.

Fine Gael-Labour government policy (since 2011)

In March 2011, the new Fine Gael-Labour government's Programme for Government (2011–2016) contained commitments to a water policy similar to the previous government.[45]

In January 2012, the Minister of Environment, Phil Hogan, announced a six-week consultation on a planned fundamental reform of the water sector. Following that, a metered domestic water charges would be introduced and a new public utility, Irish Water, would be established and take over responsibilities for drinking and waste water services from the local authorities. Independent economic regulation, through the Commission for Energy Regulation, would oversee the new utility's running costs, infrastructural investment plans and the design and level of domestic and non-domestic water charges.

In July 2013, Irish Water was legally established and began a national metering programme, incorporating 1,600 jobs pre-existing during the three and a half-year programme. The company was expected to initially install meters for approximately 1.05 million households. Domestic water charges were scheduled to commence in October 2014, with households receiving their first bills in Quarter 1 2015, with bills paid for usage in arrears.

From 1 January 2014, Irish Water would become the national water services authority, assuming all responsibilities for water services from local authorities except for those relating to certain rural water services and inspections of wastewater treatment systems. Ireland's 34 local authorities were to continue to provide some drinking and waste water services on behalf of Irish Water through a service level agreement.
 

Source; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland

Did Alan Kelly mislead the Irish People about Article 9.4 of the Water Framework Directive?

Alan Kelly, Labour Party TD is unrepentant about the position he took regarding the Water Framework Directive 2000 and in particular Article 9.4 while Minister for the Environment in the former Fine Gael/Labour Government.  As Minister he was head of the Department responsible for the introduction and implementation of the controversial 'Water Charges. 

Alan Kelly, Labour Party, former Minister responsible for 'Water Charges'

In his personal web page on June 29, 2016 he wrote "Personally, I believe there is a strong possibility that this Bill is contrary to EU law, which has constitutional primacy over acts of the Oireachtas. I have repeated numerous times the fact that we no longer have an EU derogation from Water Charges and this has been confirmed by Commissioner Vella this week. There is no legal basis whatsoever for scrapping water charges. So given how clear this fact now is how can Minister Coveney bring forward legislation knowing full well that we don’t have a derogation on having water charges and therefore we can’t stop charging for them? I was always advised that legally we had no choice but to have water charges as our derogation was gone since 2010 so how could this advice have changed?"  http://www.alankelly.ie.

Alan Kelly a few short years ago was told different

Only a few short years ago,  Alan Kelly, while an MEP at the time and member of the Labour Party which opposed water charges (thejournal.ie, Mar,2015), received a different explanation on Article 9.4 from the European Commission.

 

In a written question to the Commission E3366/10, May 12, 2010, Alan Kelly asked

"The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC(1), Article 9.4, indicates that a Member State will not be in breach of the directive for non-implementation of the provision of 9.1, second sentence, on water-pricing policies ‘where this does not compromise the purposes and the achievement of this directive.’ Can the Commission provide some further clarification on the meaning of this point? Can the Commission confirm whether Article 9.4 effectively means that water-pricing policies could be avoided if the principles of the directive can be achieved through other resources and the principle of the ‘polluter pays’ is adhered to?

Article 9.1 outlines that in relation to the recovery of the costs of water services, Member States may have regard to ‘the social, environmental and economic effects of the recovery.’ In the Commission's opinion, does the application of a flat rate charge for water services sufficiently take into account the social and economic effects of the recovery on households with varying income levels?"

 

Answer given by Mr Potočnik on behalf of the Commission, June 21, 2010

"Article 9(1) of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC(1), requires Member States to ensure, by 2010, that a water pricing policy is established based on the principles of cost recovery and polluter pays. The water pricing policy shall also provide adequate incentives for users to use water resources efficiently and therefore contribute to achieving the objectives of the directive. The purpose of the Water Framework Directive specified in Article 1 includes the promotion of the sustainable water use based on the long-term protection of available water resources. The environmental objectives are set out in Article 4 and include the prevention of deterioration of water bodies and the achievement of good status by 2015. The provision in Article 9(4) relating to the need to ensure that the purposes and the achievement of the objectives of the directive is not compromised relates to those objectives in Articles 1 and 4.

Article 9(4) provides the possibility for Member States not to apply the provisions of Article 9(1) to a given water-use activity, where this is an established practice at the time of adoption of the directive and where this does not compromise the purposes and the achievement of the objectives of the directive. The use of Article 9(4) is therefore subject to strict conditions.

The economic and social effects of a particular form of water pricing on households will depend on the type of water pricing and the socioeconomic profile of the households. It is for the Member States to decide whether they have regard to these aspects on the basis of an assessment of the effects of the water pricing policy on water users. However, as regards Article 9(1), Member States who wished to implement a flat rate would need to justify that it fulfills the requirements in Article 9(1), in particular with respect to whether it provides an adequate incentive for users to use water efficiently."

 

Sources;
Kathy Sinnott, Irish Times, Nov 21, 2014'Why the Irish Government is not required to implements water charges on ouseholds'

Colette Browne, Irish Independent, Aug 4, 2015, Eu rules did not compel Ireland to bring in water charges - our politicians chose to do it.

The Journal.ie Mar 15, 2015, 'How Labour considered water charges, meters and an 'ESB for water' five years ago'