Fianna Fáil would reintroduce water charges, admits Cowen

By Elaine Loughlin, political reporter

Fianna Fáil has today confirmed it would reintroduce water charges down the line if elected to Government.

Although the party have committed to abolishing Irish Water, environment spokesman Barry Cowen said there would be a return to water charges in a number of years.

Mr Cowen said: “We want to abolish Irish water, we want to invest in a water structure and we will invest more than is presently being invested by the existing regime".

He said road tax and local authority funds went towards funding the establishment of a “gold-plated super quango” which is not delivering on the ground.

“But yes, we accept that if you have a system that is fit for purpose, if you have system where everybody gets based on quality, based on delivery, based on need and based on leakage, if you can reach the targets then yes, there is a system whereby people can make their contribution over and above taxation.”

He said this contribution would be minimal and it would take “at least 10 years” before the water system would be up to an adequate level.

“It will be over taxation, it will be in the region of €50 or €100, I don’t know,” Mr Cowen said.

“But it will be for a Government at that time to decide on that. But only when the system is fit for purpose, only when the network is as it should be across the State.”

He said the plan would involve “abolition of Irish Water as it currently stands”.

Under Fianna Fáil’s proposals, 100 of the 700 staff currently working with Irish Water would be retained, while the remaining employees would be redeployment within local authorities or would be offered redundancies.

Speaking at Fianna Fáil’s headquarters this morning, Mr Cowen said his party would prioritise spending on services ahead of reducing taxes if the economy does not grow as quickly as is forecast.

Mr Cowen said: “We are the only party that has said in the event of the projected growth that is being talked about by all parties not materialising, that we will prioritise services over taxation.

“We do not want to see the better off becoming even better off while 1,700 children are still in emergency accommodation.

“There is a wide suite of measures that we would want to implement in Government, including the abolition of Irish Water.”

Mr Cowen said they have 71 candidates and they would be going out to try to win all of these seats.

Simon Coveney moots free daily water allowance of 123 litres

Foreword Buncrana Together - Simon Coveney irresponsibly preempting the Oireachtas Joint Committee's discussion on the future funding of water in Ireland.  By the way this committee of TDs restarts again on Jan 12, 2017 and concludes at the end of February.  Mr Coveney is again re-introducing the threat from Brussels.   Surely by now he must have grasped the importance of the 9.4 section in the Water Framework Directive (Irish Exemption)?   Where did he pluck the figure of 123 from and we see he only counts adults, no mention of children (not a wain in the house washed).  In the USA the daily average per person is 400 litres, see USGS.

 
 

Simon Coveney moots free daily water allowance of 123 litres

by Juno McEnroe, Irish Examiner, Jan 5 2017

Adults should be allowed to use 123 litres of water per day free of charge before excess costs apply under a new system, Housing Minister Simon Coveney says.

He said households who had still not paid old water bills should be pursued but allowed to pay outstanding debts over a long period.

A special commission last month recommended most homes get water for free. Mr Coveney said parties wanted to move on and agree a plan through a new Oireachtas committee on water charges.

But in an interview with the Irish Examiner he also admitted that he and the Government had not received word from Brussels as to whether the new water charges plan was acceptable.

He expected the free water allowance per adult — to be agreed by the Dáil — to be 123 litres per day.

“The average usage in Ireland is about 46,000 litres. To be exact it is about 123 litres per day for an average adult... We need to be at the national average and probably a little bit more than that so that people who are using water will have some flexibility around being a little bit above the average or below the average.”

Mr Coveney stressed that he did not want to interfere with the Oireachtas committee, which will begin its work next week. But he still believes households using excess amounts of water must pay more.

“If people are using more than that, why should their neighbours pay for it through general taxation?

“So if you have one house in the estate that is filling a swimming pool out the back, everybody else in the estate has to pay for it. That is just not fair.”

Source: Irish Examiner, Jan 5 2017

Action on water charge defaulters still unclear

Foreword
All mainstream newspapers should really have a warning attached 'Read with Caution".  There are some things in this  Irish Examiner article that need read with sceptical eyes.  Here is some sound advise from fliuch.org

"With all due respect to Fiachra who is just reporting what happened (to an extent) this is just nonsense. Irish Water Ltd « it’s a limited company – has no recourse to pursue anyone via Revenue or Welfare. If it wants to pursue anyone for unpaid charges it will have to do it as a civil matter through debt collectors, solicitors and the courts like any normal company. It will also have to establish that a binding contract was in place.

If you receive a letter of demand for payment from Irish Water Ltd., or a debt collection agency or a solicitor or a court simply Return To Sender with the sticker template we’ve given you" – Fliuch.

Irish Examiner, Dec 1, 2016
Action on water charge defaulters still unclear

By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

The Government has failed to clarify if people who have not paid water charges will be pursued through the courts, tax or social welfare payments systems.

Education Minister Richard Bruton, who took the place of theTaoiseach in the Dáil, was questioned on the water commission report.

Education Minister Richard Bruton repeatedly side-stepped the issue during a Dáil debate yesterday, as the Coalition was accused of trying to bring back charges “through the back door” of “excessive” water usage.

Speaking during the Leaders’ Questions debate, Mr Bruton, who took the place of US-bound Taoiseach Enda Kenny, was questioned over the exact implications of Tuesday’s water commission report.

However, despite direct questions over how people who have refused to pay the charges to date will be treated and calls for clarity on whether fees for “excessive” usage are a way to quietly re-introduce charges, he did not give any firm answers on the issues.

Questioned by Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald about Housing and Local Government Minister Simon Coveney’s comments yesterday that people who have not paid to date will be “pursued”, Mr Bruton did not explain what the plan will involve.

Asked specifically if it relates to “pursuing through the courts, revenue or through social welfare payments”, Mr Bruton instead said “no one who did their civic duty and paid up” should be unfairly treated”.

During a separate exchange, AAA-PBP TD Richard Boyd Barrett warned Mr Bruton the water commission report’s recommendation that an as yet undefined “vast majority” of people will not pay fees while those using “excessive” amounts of water will face charges is a “fudge to save the blushes of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil”.

Mr Boyd Barrett said the report found there was no reason for Ireland to have a charging system as the country uses 20% less water per home than Britain where charges are in place. He said this shows ‘the polluter pays’ principle is not based on logic.

However, Mr Bruton said the issue needs to be “deliberated in a mature way” by the 20-person cross-party Oireachtas committee examining the findings, adding pointedly, that Mr Boyd Barrett is a member of this group.

The responses led to an angry reaction from Ms McDonald, who said the public has made it clear there can be “no return of water charges through the front or back door” and that “given your track record, how could anyone trust you”.

Source
https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/action-on-water-charge-defaulters-still-unclear-433123.html 
http://fliuch.org/action-on-water-charge-defaulters-still-unclear/