Water charges... for all those who are undecided :

To Pay or Not to Pay .. that is the question. Dont be fooled, you already pay for your water, 5% of motor tax and 2 % of all vat goes towards water, thats 1.2 billion per year. Its has cost the tax payer 700 million this year to set up Irish Water. The cap will be lifted in 2019 and the company will be privatised. This private company will want to make profits so will obviously increase the charge more and more in order to do so. The money the government collect from this goes to pay the bondholderd debt.

If you DO pay ..

1) Expect bills to at least treble in the next 2 to 5 years
2) Expect to be on metered rates within 3 years
3) Expect to be TOLD how much water you can use !
4) Expect to be dealing with a fully privatised company with no regards for your means, welfare, health, family or home.
5) Expect no mercy when you fall into debt over your water bills
6) Expect to be charged for waste water and everything else that goes down the plughole and into the sewers.
7) Expect to pay for the significant cost of not just the meter but the installation costs as well.
8) Expect to pay for the costs of repairing a leaking mains pipe if it happens on your side.
9) Expect to pay for all rain water that flows off your roof and down the drain into the sewers.
10) Expect yearly increases in water and waste charges (which you have no control over.)

IF you DONT pay

1) You WONT get money taken from wages
2) You WONT get money taken from benefits
3) Your credit rating WONT be affected
4) Your water will NOT be turned off
5) Your water supply will NOT be reduced
6) You wont go to jail
7) Irish Water will get no money and go bust !
8) Water Charges will be history !

Now.. which sounds more appealing, which sounds more scary..

Still undecided ?

Be more scared of what will happen if you do pay water charges than if you don't ! because that's where the real danger is !
A future where we cant even afford our own water !

By the way .. You were denied the opportunity to vote in a referendum on water charges . Water charges are only capped until 2019.
You had a water charge exemption under EU law but the government removed it. Labour TD Alan Kelly, Minister for the Environment chose not to renew the exemption. A French multi-national corporation called Veolla is building Water Treatment plants in Ireland. Previous governments tried to introduce water charges but mass non payment defeated them. An Irish Water board director named Denis O’Brien owns the majority of the media in Ireland. He also owns Topaz and is trying to buy Shell.

Still just a tiny bit afraid of going against the government, afraid they might bring in new laws to get it from you ?? If you are one of these then why not just stash the money you would be paying away and wait and see what happens. The penalties are small and by the time they would be enforced, there will be general election here and only the party that says it will abolish Irish Water will get in and it will not matter. But lets not rely on that, non-payment will finish them off, the people will win the day !

You cannot get 'fined' by a private company, they have to take you to court and they will not want to do that as they know that they are breaking various laws, ie - The Aarhus Convention, 5 Irish Laws and 5 EU laws to do with monopoly (which is what IW is, as you have no other choice, which is why it will eventually be opened up to other water companies to come in and privatised, then they basically charge you what they want) !!!! DO we want this ? NO. They are also breaking the law in Section 2 of the Family Law Protection Act, which states no-one can either come on to your 'dwelling' without permission, nor do anything to it that you do not want. The term 'dwelling' is used by IW when talking of meter installation, so really we could take them to court. Knowledge is POWER people so lets use it !!

Only 320,000 applications were returned to Irish Water – NOT 950,000 as reported by RTE. The government will issue empty threats and much spin – false information & scaremongering. You are not alone! Literally hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland are not paying a cent. Your children will pay a lot more for water in the years to come if this human right is denied. Irish Water is already defeated. The reality is, by 2030 we will have only over half of the water we need on the planet, so big companies want to privatise and own it so they can sell it from here to other countries at a premium rate. U will probably not be able to afford it by then as scarcity puts the price up. We must keep our water i public hands !!

ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED ON WATER METERS

Dr. David Carpenter MD, a graduate of Harvard Medical School and a physician who has worked in the area of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and public health for over 18 years, has a few choice words for power companies that are forcing smart meters down the throats of their customers all over the United States. Dr. Carpenter adamantly insists that there is no evidence whatsoever that smart meters are in any way safe for human beings. He goes on to say that there is, in fact, ample evidence that demonstrates “convincingly and consistently” that exposure to radio frequency radiation (RFR) at elevated levels for long periods of time increases the risk of cancer, damages the nervous system, and adversely affects the reproductive organs. Opting out is the only “smart” way to deal with this corporate incursion - See more at: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/harvard-medical-do…/…

What’s wrong with Smart Meters?
Smart meters are already rolled out in many other countries, and homeowners are reporting not only serious health problems, but also issues with privacy, price hikes, and some meters catching fire.

Not Healthy: Acute health problems reported where smart meters are installed include heart palpitations, chest pain, inability to concentrate, fainting spells, headaches, dizziness, nausea, sleep difficulties, and tinnitus. Health complaints Accumulative long-term exposure to microwave radiation can lead to depression, chronic illnesses and cancers. Children, the elderly and those with already compromised health are most at risk of developing acute or long-term illness

No Privacy: These companies will collect and sell data about you to marketing companies; your private information can also be easily hacked into.

Not Safe: Some smart meters have exploded and caused fires. This is the list of requirements that must be followed by Irish Water before they can commence any meter installations and usually they don’t adhere to this so it is easy enough to put the run on them:
Your meter is not a sealed unit like it is now, therefore it can be tampered with easily and this puts you in danger of harm.

COST
Your water meter is being installed by a company called Siteserv/GMC Sierra, owned by the infamous tycoon Denis O Brien, who does not even live in Ireland, but earns lots of money from us. He has shares in Topaz, The Independent, Evening Herald, Newstalk Spin South West and other companies too long to mention here. He bribed M Lowry TD in the 90’s to get the Esat Digiphone licence (02), when the only other provider was Vodaphone. These are the type of people that will benefit from you paying for your water.

The water meters being used here are of very poor quality and obviously cheap with a life only of about 10-15 yrs, that’s if the batteries last that long. The more the battery wares out the less likely it is to give an accurate reading, as people in Germany found out to their cost, as their bill went sky high due to incorrect readings. 1 in 5 of these Denis O Brien meters are already leaking or sinking.
They will have to be replaced every 10-15 yrs, so who do u think will foot the bill. You will.
If you get a leak, you will be expected to pay for the fixing of it, anywhere from 400-1,000 euro. Oh, and best part, running up to the point when they start replacing them everyone will be paying more for water due to faulty meters, and if you want them to check your meter you will have to pay for a call out and pressure check charge, so we each will be hit with either higher inaccurate bills, OR large call-out charges upwards of 500 euro just to see if the meter they installed is working.

LIST OF REQUIREMENTS THAT ALL IW METER INSTALLERS MUST HAVE BEFORE THEY START WORK.
1. Contractors must produce a Licence (permit) to local residents to open the footpaths in their estate
2. Contractors must give the residents prior notice that the water is being turned off as hot water can scald
3. Toilet facilities, warm room etc. must be in situ as they will be creating a working construction site
4. Contractors cannot open up any footpath without an adequate and safe traffic plan being in place with an alternative route into the estate
5. The HSE must be notified and a Form AF2 must be displayed
6. All staff must have up to date safe passes available for inspection
7. All staff must be fully garda vetted and have this available for inspection
Remember… Forewarned is forearmed as they will be coming to an estate near you soon

Important Note:
If Irish Water workers for any reason refuse to produce these documents they are breaking the law under Health and Safety Regulations and are failing in their duty of care and they are prohibited by law to carry out any works until they produce these documents. If they intimidate you or trespass uninvited onto your property you should call the gardai immediately and tell them that the law has been broken and you are being harassed and intimidated and fear for your safety and request that they come out and protect you. They are obliged to do so. And if you cannot stop them putting in a meter against your will, not to worry, there are water meter fairies all over Ireland doing a great job in taking them out, it takes about 2 mins to do.

Suzanne Daly 2015