Irish Water boss admits company may not be around after general election

Paul O'Donoghue Published 22/07/2015

Michael McNicholas, group chief executive of Ervia

The boss of Ervia, the parent company of Irish Water, has admitted that the controversial utility may not exist after the looming general election.

Speaking on at the MacGill Summer School in Donegal, Ervia chief executive Michael McNicholas also conceded that the company will not be able to survive without public support.

Speaking on RTE he said: "We have been very clear that we cannot deliver on the previous plans that were put forward by Ireland, they are too expensive in our view and we can’t deliver what has been promised in the timescale, but we have put forward a realistic engineering plan that we believe will address these issues sensibly, economically and in a time frame that is acceptable and we are very committed to delivering this plan; that is provided we are still around after the next election I should say."

The Ervia chief executive added: "For Irish Water to work it must have political and public support. And it is clear that some sections of the public remain sceptical about it, and some of the political voices in Ireland are totally dismissive of it.

“The reality is that we have not been investing efficiently or sufficiently in our water services. So when people say introducing water charges means we are paying twice, the reality is we have not even been paying once for our water services.

"We need more investment as a matter of urgency and this additional investment has to be paid for in some shape or form by society and by business."

His comments come shortly after Irish Water, which is headed up by former Dublin city manager John Tierney, was brought back into the spotlight when it was revealed that less than half of people eligible had paid their first quarterly water bill.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish-water-boss-admits-company-may-not-be-around-after-general-election-31395423.html

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Frances Fitzgerald: Those solely on social welfare unlikely to have to pay Irish Water Ltd debts Recently updated !

New laws were passed last night, allowing unpaid bills to be retrieved from people’s wages and social welfare payments
Frances Fitzgerald: Those solely on social welfare unlikely to have to pay Irish Water debts

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald | Photocall file photo

Article by Eoin Brennan, Newstalk, 21st July 2015

People whose earnings come solely from social welfare payments will “in many cases … be found not to have the means to pay” their Irish Water bills, Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald has said.

The Seanad last night passed the controversial Civil Debt Procedures Bill, allowing some creditors, most notably Irish Water, to take payments directly from people’s pay or social welfare payments.

Ms Fitzgerald, Fine Gael TD for Dublin Mid West, spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning, and said the new measures are aimed to avoid “imprisonment where somebody hasn’t paid their debt.”

The Bill is intended as a final recourse when “all other methods have failed,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

Senators passed the Bill by a vote of 20 to 13.

“What this Bill does is it does away with imprisonment where somebody hasn’t paid their debt,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

“If all other methods have failed … at a certain point if a debt has not been paid”

“We do not want to be setting up a situation where people who simply cannot pay” are targeted by legislation, she added.

In each case “there will be an individual assessment” undertaken by the Department of Social Protection, with a judge examining each case individually.

“There is a minimum clearly below which money cannot be taken off a person.

“Anyone who is on a supplementary allowance of €186 per week, clearly no money can be taken from that person.,

“I think in many cases those on social welfare will be found not to have the means to pay.

“Every individual circumstance” will be examined by the courts, she said, with the court looking to assess if the individual can pay “some amount towards their debt,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

Less than half of all Irish Water bills have been paid thus far, with just a 46% payment rate having paid at the last count. The new Bill is seen by many as a tool retrieve the money of people unwilling to pay an Irish water Bill, but Ms Fitzgerald insisted the measures were also intended to aid small businesses looking to retrieve debts – rather than being “the big stick to make people pay”, as Breakfast host Chris Donoghue put it to her.

“Any economy has to have a range of opportunities for people to recover debt that is owed to them,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

The measures have faced strong opposition, with Sinn Féin TD Mary Lou McDonald saying the Bill shows the “contempt” the Government has for “tens of thousands of people who came onto the streets of Dublin and elsewhere, who have said to you directly that this austerity tax is about as popular as an oil spill along the Atlantic coast.”

The Bill will apply to debts between €500 and €4,000 – and includes bills to small businesses and sole traders. The Bill will not cover consumer debts owed to moneylenders or financial institutions.

©http://www.newstalk.com/reader/47.301/51485/0/

Inishowen Groundbreaking Agreement on Water Meters

John Gildea (left) MBC Builders  shaking hands with James Quigley (right) Inishowen  group

An agreement between MBC Builders (Gildea), Ballybofey and Inishowen groups opposed to water meters has been reached following a meeting held in An Grianan Hotel, Burt, Co Donegal on Thursday 16th July. The meeting came about as a result of John Gildea, MBC Builders, recently contacting James Quigley, a local anti water charge campaigner from Buncrana.

MBC Builders is one of two subcontractors contracted by GMC Sierra Ltd to install meter ready boundary boxes in place of old water stopcocks in the area. GMC Sierra Ltd have the main contract from Irish Water to install water meters throughout the north/north west of Ireland from Mayo to Donegal.

At the meeting John Gildea of MBC Builders agreed that no work will be carried out on properties in Inishowen which have a sign up, indicating that they do not want a meter. The Inishowen groups agreed that they will not oppose MBC Builders working on properties which don't have a sign up. The agreement is subject to the following conditions;

1 MBC Builders will not work on properties who have a sign up indicating that they do not want a water meter installed..

2 MBC Builders personnel will not try to coax or by any mean persuade any residents who does not want a meter or who has a sign up indicating so, to change their minds .

3 MBC Builders will notify an anti water charge campaigner at least the night before work starts in any particular area.

4 All work will be carried out within socially accepted times 7.30am-7.30pm Mon-Fri and 8am to 1pm Sat.

James Quigley emphasised that this agreement is between us and MBC Builders. It is all about 'signs' on properties whose owners do not want a meter. If people have a sign up they will not get a meter or boundary box. There are some complicated technical issues in respect of work carried out by sub contractors and that carried out by GMC Sierra Ltd. We will be clarifying these issues later in our web page, the media and public meetings. We will also clarify other important issues that came up including the possibility that another contractor may come in after MBC Builders and finish the job or that this agreement paves the way for contractors to complete their job in Inishowen.

For some time now campaign groups in the area have been calling for a sensible approach such as this to the water meter controversy. We have repeatedly contacted Irish Water, GMC Sierra and An Garda Siochána to try to set up such an agreement. As far back as February we had a very successful public meeting in Buncrana where campaigners from Moneymore, Drogheda gave a talk on their successful agreement between themselves and contractors. I believe everyone in the packed audience that night were in agreement that we should go down this route.

I am glad we persisted and I am pleased that John Gildea of MBC Builders finally sees that an agreement such as this is the sensible way forward. This is an agreement that satisfies the needs of both sides. It is based on mutual trust and has already been proven in Moneymore and Cork and other parts Donegal that it can be a civilised solution to a difficult problem. All protest groups and Inishowen people should now get behind this new dispensation, give it a fair chance and demonstrate to one and all what can be achieved by reasoned negotiation.

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