The dilemma of paragraph 9.4, our democracy, the Oireachtas Water Committee and Right2Water Ireland

What exactly took place in the Oireachtas Committee on Funding Domestic Water that ended in highly controversial circumstances in April this year.  There are many questions that members of the committee and politicians have failed to answer and that the mainstream media have not bothered to ask.

by Enda Craig and James Quigley

 

Twenty members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services.  Top two rows were professed anti water charges, anti metering and anti Irish Water delegates.

 
 

Oireachtas schedule, including Private Sessions, from the Oireachtas Final Report April 12 2017.  Click to enlarge

The short answer is: there are many many unanswered questions and we don’t know exactly what took place. It's like a wall of silence has been erected and any mention of paragraph 9.4 or what went on in the many Private Session is taboo.

For example, we don’t know what influence Minister Simon Coveney or the Eu Commisioner Vella’s threats had on the process. We don’t know whether Fianna Fáil reneged on promises, whether to Fine Gael or to the anti water charges members. We don’t know why the Right2Water committee members appeared on the Dáil plinth on April 6th and prematurely hailed the draft report a victory.  We don't know whether the Right2Water bartered away some key demands.

And the biggest conundrum of all is we are unclear whether the committee members, especially those professed anti water charges, anti metering and anti Irish Water Ltd members, agreed with the 'Confidential Draft Report' of April 5th, even though there was no mention of Paragraph 9.4 of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and most importantly no mention of invoking this paragraph in Ireland’s second River Basin Management Plan.
 

Honest information is hard to come by

Even after emailing the chairman Pádraig Ó Céidigh, querying committee members and last but not least our numerous requests from Right2Water Ireland, we still are unclear how exactly the ‘Draft Report’ came about or whether it’s contents were agreed by the members of the committee.

However, we do know that there were many claims and counter claims after April 5th, with Fine Gael accusing Fianna Fáil of going back on promises and Sinn Féin accusing Fianna Fáil of multiple turnarounds and Fianna Fáil denying any of it.

After a phone conversation with the committee secretary Tom Sheridan who told us that the contents were agreed by the members and that is how the process works, we are gravitating towards some kind of committee member's agreement with the contents of the controversial draft report.  However, the only confirmed fact at the moment is not one member of the committee objected to the omission of 9.4 in the draft or final reports.

Surely it is our right to know what this committee and it’s members got up to and not rely on hearsay or misinformation. Basic information like 'what exactly did they agree or barter away during all those private sessions, especially the last ten private ones from February to April, should be readily available?  It is not and no one wants to talk about it.

As mentioned in our earlier article we have a big problem with this committee’s protocol and the numerous private sessions. Who drafted the contents of the ‘confidential draft report’ and why was the most important issue, that of Ireland’s ‘Established Practice’ enshrined in the EU Water Framework Directive, paragraph 9.4 , not included?  Did the committee’s officials decide not to include it?  Or did the members themselves agree the contents of the draft report including the omission of any mention of paragraph 9.4. In other words, in both scenarios, was it a deliberate omission? After all that went on during a full day’s debate on February 15th and the importance Chairman Ó Céidigh gave to the debate, it should have been included. 

Because of the importance of the 9.4 paragraph to Ireland any member of the committee who supported anti water charges and anti metering should have been up in arms over the omission.  There wasn't even a whimper.

A recent email that came our way, (see below) written by Alan Brynes and addressed to all committee members and the secretariat, including the chairman Pádraig Ó Céidigh, confirms the existence of this ‘confidential draft report’.  We say this because even some in Right2Water are denying it's existence. 

In a phone conversation with a committee secretary we were told that the contents of this report were agreed by the committee members. If this was the case, then it follows that the members of the committee agreed not to include paragraph 9.4 or any mention of the River Basin Management Plans or any mention of February 15th debate.  What corroborates this conclusion is the total lack of criticism about the omission from any member of the committee and their absolute silence afterwards.

 

Draft Report email from Oireachtas secretary to Committee members April 5th 2017

 
 

Paragraph 9.4

This is the paragraph in the The EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC that enshrines Ireland’s ‘Established Practice’ into European law.  It was transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 722 of 2003).  Paragraph 9.4 was negotiated by Fianna Fáil , the government of the day in 2000, who were forced into it by past successful anti water charges’ campaigns. Hence it was called the ‘Irish Exemption. The paragraph is undoubtedly Ireland’s best defense against the EU Commission forcing water charges and metering through, in any shape or form.  It must be invoked in the second River Basin Management Plan which will be sent to Brussels on the last day of this year.

Another little bit of information is that the Irish Government is not obliged by EU law to bring in water charges and paragraph 9.4 of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC establishes this.  However, we believe that this paragraph and any form of water charges are mutually exclusive.

Right2Water Ireland blocks Buncrana Together writer

I have been blocked by R2W for posting the comment below on facebook.  R2W seem pretty sensitivity over the issue of so called leadership accepting 'charging for excessive use'.   R2W can't answer the fact that their officials Stevie Fitzpatrick and Dave Gibney are on Dáil record agreeing charges for excessive use of domestic water during the Oireachtas Committee on Domestic Water debate February 2017.  My contention is that their acceptance opens the door to household metering.  How else can excessive use be measured?

by Enda Craig

ENGINEER MEETS R2W WALL OF SILENCE.

Engineer , Mr Martin Lavelle asked R2W on their facebook page. on Aug 28 - " You tell me how a District Metering Zone meter can identify bone fide usage and leakages. You said it could. "

Two full days have come and gone since R2W was asked to explain how district metering can measure an individual daily allowance of water to each Irish home as they, R2W, have proposed.

No answer has so far been forthcoming.

Nor will there be one because it is an engineering impossibility.

R2W has signed up in your name ( listen to clip above ) in the Oireachtas Committee on Water Charges to a ' small daily ration of water with charges for excessive use ' .

This means they have accepted in your name, regardless of statements to the contrary, a domestic metering programme.

Right2WaterIreland's comment

"Right2WaterIreland Enda, we are R2W, you are Enda Craig, we will tell you our 'official position', you can do what you want with your own, but please have a little bit of decorum and stop misrepresenting us.  We have had an official position for more than two years now - one which was sanctioned by a conference of delegates from unions, political parties and community groups. You already know this. Your obsession with misrepresenting R2W is getting highly suspicious at this stage. If you keep it up, and keep spreading lies, we will block you from this page. Thanks"

So which is the official version, the above or one that is on Dáil records, in full video, supporting a statement on radio by Brendan Ogle agreeing with excessive or maybe it is R2W support for Lynn Boylan's (Sinn Féin) 2015 European Citizen's Initiative calling for 'excessive use charges'?

Trust in the Irish political system up for grabs over Water Committee's stalemate

The Oireachtas Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services resumed yesterday having failed to come to a majority decision last Wednesday at it’s scheduled final meeting .

A report was to be presented to Dáil Éireann next Monday, March 13th.

However,  according to Anti Austerity Alliance, Paul Murphy,  Fianna Fáil agreed to an extension to the deadline until April 14, apparently to look into yet more legal arguments.  See RTE News for details.

Why and whether it should take another four weeks is highly questionable especially since it is now over a year since the general election when the democratic wish of the Irish people to abolish water charges was clearly shown.

 

 

Water Committee at a stalemate

The 20-member committee is split at 10-10, with ten members for abolishing water chargesand ten members for charging and metering.   The latter's option is dressed up as 'charging for excessive use' with a designated maximum free water allowance, the argument being that this is reasonable, environmentally friendly and adheres to the EU principle of cost recovery.  Opponents of water charges, like ourselves, argue that this approach necessitates metering, itemised billing, that the free allowance will be whittled away, bit by bit, and in order to get full cost recovery these charges for water and sanitation services will increase significantly.  The idea of metering to opponents is really a red line issue and the use of metering for excessive use is seen as economically unsound, like using a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

The final 10 v 10 tally is misleading.  In our view the voting should really be 10/9 in favour of abolishing charges.  However, due to a procedural sleight of hand by the Government the chairman Pádraig Ó Céidigh was allowed to vote and sided with the Fine Gael position.   (see photos below for breakdown of vote)

It is interesting to note that the make-up of this committee and the 10/10 vote,  does not really reflect the position and numbers of TDs in the Dáil who promised to support abolition of water charges.  The majority of TDs in the Irish Parliament were elected last year on a ticket of abolishing water charges, metering and indeed Irish Water Ltd itself.

The make-up and 'Term of Reference' of this Joint Committee is not a coincidence,.  Not only does the make-up of members not reflect a true representation of opinions but also the fact that it's 'Terms of reference' did not include 'commercial charges' and the Irish Water company.  It was clearly demonstrated many times throughout the debates when the chairman stopped members in their tracks when asking about 'commercial charges'. 

The minority Fine Gael Government pulled out all the stops to defuse mass opposition. It used and still is using Fianna Fáil’s political position, the 'Agreement for Government' and Fianna Fáil’s reluctance to trigger an election at the present time.

 

Below committee members voting to abolish charging and metering

Below committee members voting for charging and metering

 

Delaying and stalling the democratic process

Although Fine Gael portrays itself as reasonable and willing negotiators , in reality, they have done everything in their power to railroad water charges and metering.  They have prolonged the process and stalled what should have been an inevitable democratic Dáil vote.

For the past number of years Fine Gael and Labour Party coalition spent billions of Euro on Irish Water Ltd.    Along with some willing Independents and the Green Party, they threatened, cajoled, misinformed, even battered young and old alike in order to steamroll what could be described as an EU IMF austerity package.  They used big guns from the European Commission, the Attorney General,  the Civil Service and media to misinform and threaten European sanctions.

Since last year's general election after assuming office the minority Fine Gael government have used the 'Agreement for Government, with Fianna Fáil and the latter's reluctance to trigger an early election,  to delay a Dáil vote.  Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil agreed the settingup of an 'Expert Water Commission' and the 'Joint Oireachtas Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water'.  A process which has taken over a year to get this far.  Meanwhile Irish Water Ltd is getting more and more entrenched and the Government and European Commission are circling the wagons.

 

Fine Gael miscalculated mood of people and Fianna Fáil's trust must be earned

However, Fine Gael did not bank on a combination of unforeseen events like;  1) Eurostat refusing to allow Irish Water Ltd to go off Government books,   2) the damning report from the Expert Water Commission,  3)  Fianna Fáil sticking to it's election promises, ( well so far) and   4) the many important facts and figures that managed to trickle out of what Fine Gael thought were sure things such as Eurostat, The Expert Water Commission and even the much politically loaded Joint Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water itself.   Facts and figures that contradicted what the Government and officials were telling the Irish people.

Briefly some of these were   1) Irish Water Ltd could not exist off Government books,  2) Irish Water borrowing was more expensive than Government borrowing,  3) there is a derogation, a 9.4 exemption in the Water Framework Directive which allows Ireland to opt out of domestic charging,  4) there are other ways to implement and fulfill the WFD objectives other than itemised billing, charging and metering,  5) the Irish do not use excessive amounts of water,  6)  over 60% of treated water wastage comes from the public mains system,  7) Individual metering is not used in Scotland and N. Ireland and Scottish Water emphasised that individual metering is not needed to detect excessive use.

However,  the most important fact of all, so important that the Expert Commission referred to several times in it’s report and reiterated by the Public Water Forum,  is the fact that the Irish people have no ‘Trust’ in Government and it's water policy.

‘Trust’ and willingness of people are necessaryto make anything work but it is this 'Trust' that Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Green Party have lost.   It is this notion of ‘Trust’ that Fianna Fáil would do well to heed especially given that it's party rose from the ashes through their election manifesto that promised to abolish water charges, metering and Irish Water.

Sisyphus relentless struggle

The mammoth struggle of Irish citizens against Government, EU and IMF bulldozing austerity measures through,  brings to mind the story of Sisyphus in the underworld who was punished by Zeus for deceitfulness, craftiness and self-aggrandisement,  to endlessly push a boulder up a hill only for it to fall back down.

Only in this case it is the Irish people being punished for Government’s endless deceit again and again.