Eurostat finally receives request from Ireland - Irish Water Stress Test Begins

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Buncrana Together received word from the European Statistical Data support (ESDS), Eurostat, that they have just received a request from Ireland re market test on Irish Water.  They informed us that " Eurostat is going to examine it in accordance with the procedure. No further comment will be made during this procedure."

For those who are technically minded Eurostat went on to say  "The criteria describing the classification of the unit either inside or outside of government sector is described in Manual on Government Deficit and Debt (MGDD) in the chapter I.2 Criteria for classifying units to the general government sector. The MGDD can be found in the website of Eurostat ( see MGDD ) . The criteria contains several steps and the quantitative market/non-market test is described in detail at part I.2.4.3 of the previously mentioned chapter. The main thing in this particular part of the process is to determine whether a producer is market, it must sell its products at an economically significant price which, in practice, would be assessed if the sales of the producer cover a majority of the production costs."

For the less technically minded what this means is that Eurostat is going to do a market test on Irish Water.  The Government  has to prove that more than 50% of Irish Water's running costs are form customers, both private and business,  in order for it to be taken off the State balance sheet.   If Irish Water fails the test this could have dire consequences for future budgets.  It could mean  €600 million will be added to the deficit this year.  It would affect Irish Water's long term investment programmes which are planned on the basis that it will be off the State balance sheet.  Any State investment in Irish Water would come on to  the State balance sheet.  One of the key issues here is the €100 conservation grant which the Government hopes will be separate form Irish Water.

There still remains controversy in the Irish public and opposition politicians surrounding the Central Statistics Office's (CSO) delay in supplying Eurostat with data and requesting a market test  (see Buncrana Together)  
 

It was widely known that the CSO was to request this since last year and that the results of the Eurostat test would be out mid March 2015.  This deadline was missed by a long shot. Now Eurostat's decision could take a couple of months yet,  however, there is no definite date.

Some suggest that the delay was intentional because Irish Water is behind schedule with their metering programme and developing their customer base.  Any lay person would think that showing a large customer base would be one of the most important elements in proving that a company is viable.   Irish Water and the Government insist that all users of the public water supply are customers of Irish Water even though households have not signed a contract with them.  Irish Water say that the Water Services Acts 2007 and 2013 gives it this right. 

It remains to be seen what way Eurostat will look at it  whether it will accept Irish Water's customer claim or whether it will take into consideration the sizeable opposition to Irish Water in Ireland, including politicians.  A layperson would find it hard to understand  how a company could be viable if a sizeable number of it's  potential customers are not going to pay.  Unless Eurostat accepts that the Government will recoup the money out of the public one way or another. 

There was an interesting line in an Irish Times article on the subject ( see Irish Times CSO provisionally puts Irish Water on State books)  where it states  "It appears likely the CSO has indicated to Eurostat its support for Irish Water to remain off balance sheet. " 

So the controversy continues.  Previous questions on CSO's delay by Sean Fleming FF in a Public Affairs Sub Committee meeting,  got stern reactions from both Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Joan Burton when they defended the impartiality of the CSO.  See Buncrana Together

If you have any requests to Eurostat you can go to           ( Eurostat ).

Irish Water Protester Possible Landmark Court Case In June 2015

Stephen Bennett will he get justice this time?


Stephen Bennett will he get justice this time?

Date set for Court Case

Stephen Bennett a political activist from Pearse Green Sallynoggin, Dublin is to stand trial in the Dublin District Court on June 17, 2015 by order of Judge Anthony Halpin .  (see Irish Times, April 7, 2015).  He has been charged under the Water Services Act 2007, for obstructing the company exercising its powers on October 21, 2014 at Villa Park Gardens, Dublin 7.  The case can result in a €5000 fine as well as a possible 3 months in jail. 

Case Ongoing Since December 2014 Could Set Precedent

This case has been ongoing since December 10, 2014  when Judge Halpin  heard directions from the Director of Public Prosecution as to whether the case should be dealt with at district court level or go to the circuit.  If it went to the circuit court there would be a maximum fine 0f €15m or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both.    The defense solicitor, at the time Stephen O'Mahony sought a court order to preserve any possible video footage contained on cameras belonging to Irish Water workers.  Judge Halpin agreed to the request.  The defence solicitor described the case as a test case which raised  a lot of constitutional arguments and said that the case may open the floodgates further down the line.  Judge Halpin said the complexity and magnitude of the case may necessitate engagement of counsel and he agreed to Mr O'Mahony's legal aid request.  ( Irish Times December 10, 2014 )

 

An earlier and separate court case struck out

On March 2015,   Judge Halpin acceded to Mr Bennett's solicitor Cahir O'Higgin's request to strike out the case against Stephen Bennett for obstructing Irish Water on November 4, 2014 at Villa Park Gardens, Cabra, Dublin  The case was struck out because the state failed to disclose CCTV evidence which the judge had previously directed them to hand over.  ( Sunday World March 25, 2015 )

 

 

Stephen Bennett with daughter Saoirse and friends during many campaigns including No Water Charges, Activist at Act For Palestine, Occupy Dame Street and Occupy the Dail going back to 2012

11,000 Irish Water Customers Asked To Re-Submit Payment Details

Irish Water has confirmed that it has asked around 11,000 customers who submitted payment details in writing or over the phone to re-submit the information.
The company said that 9,000 customers who gave details of direct debit mandates over the phone were asked to re-submit them in writing, following concerns over data protection.



Another 2,000 customers who submitted payment details in writing were asked to do so again, because of what Irish Water described as "errors" in transposing customer details online.
The company said around 800,000 customers had registered in writing, far more than it had expected.
The utility will begin issuing the first quarterly bills to its 1.5m customers tomorrow.
The company has described the billing process as a significant task, and said it expects there will be errors in its database.
Staffing at a call centre in Cork has been increased to 750 to deal with customer queries during the initial billing period.


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Staff at Irish Water and their customer service agents based at the Abtran call centre have been involved in a dry run on Irish Water's billing system for several weeks.

Today the system goes live and tonight the first 39,000 bills will be issued to customers across the country.
Billing is being rolled out on a phased basis over an eight-week period and during that time bills will be posted or emailed to every region of the country.
A total of 1.7m bills will be issued, including to those who are not customers of the new utility, such as to people on group water schemes.
RTE News April 7,2015


 


Buncrana Together
See our Boycott Campaign Article


It is interesting that RTE has reported the company as saying " around 800,00 customers had registered ".  Last week it was 1.3 million or was it 1.5million.

Buncrana Together know that there is a lot of people who have registered that are opposed to Irish Water.  They were coerced into signing Irish Water's registration form.  We advise you to read our article Buncrana Against Irish Water Say Don't Interact With Irish Water.