Councillors block transfer of tenant data to Irish Water

Sam Griffin and Robin Schiller
Indepentdent.ie



 

Dublin City Councillors voted unanimously to oppose the handing over of personal details of council tenants to Irish Water.
It is the first formal backlash against the controversial move by local authorities to hand over tenant information to the utility, since this was revealed by the Irish Independent a fortnight ago.
The city council motion, which was proposed by Sinn Féin, received cross-party support and passed without any debate on the topic last night.

The council will now seek an independent legal opinion on whether or not it was legal for Dublin City Council management to hand over tenants details to Irish Water.
Independent Councillor Gary Gannon said there is huge anger among tenants whose details were handed over.
"It is the view of many councillors and myself included who feel it is a total infringement of people's privacy that these details were released to Irish Water," he said.

Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan said: "We will be studying legal opinion to see how we can overturn the decision to hand over tenants' details and to undo the damage done by Dublin City Council management."

Woman left bloodied after gardai attempt to move anti-water charge protesters

The woman was sitting in a doorway at Fingal County Council.

A WOMAN HAS made a statement to gardaí after she was left bloodied at an anti-water charges protest today.
The woman was one of four protesters who had lodged themselves in a revolving door at Fingal County Council this afternoon.
A video posted on the Dublin Says No Facebook page shows gardaí attempting to remove the protesters. There is some resistance and the sound of glass shattering, though the video does not show how it happened.
A second video shows the woman being escorted from the offices by security staff and gardaí, her face and clothes bloodied.

Anti Austerity Alliance councillor Eugene Coppinger tonight
told TheJournal.ie that around 25 protesters were
now at Swords Garda Station and a number of protesters
were giving statements to the gardaí.  He said that the woman
had been treated by ambulance staff on the scene, but had lost
a lot of blood. He said that people had a right to protest.  
“This was a peaceful protest. People have a right to breach
security if they want.”
Gardaí say that they were called to attend a protest today while
removing a protesters from the doorway, a woman received a
“minor injury”, being treated on scene.
The matter is being investigated by gardaí.

thejournal.ie April 13,2015

Irish Times April 13,2015

Frequently targeted local authority has spent €33,000 on security over past two years

Fianna Fáil councillor Darragh Butler said Monday’s council meeting went ahead as planned, with the protest having no effect on the evening’s business.
He said he counted about 15 to 20 protesters outside the county hall and about eight gardaí.
He said the costs of providing security at meetings was an “awful waste” of council money. “I have no problem with peaceful protest but clearly when you jump over or go around three different barriers, that’s not peaceful protest,” he said.
“The council didn’t bring in the water charges, the Government did.”

Irish Water, Alan Kelly's Colosseum

anticipation of forthcoming penalties

There are rumours floating around the web that Alan Kelly, Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government,  is bringing out, after the Easter Holidays, measures to combat non payers of the disputed water charges.  After the good weather over the Easter break all Government ministers will be returning to the arena,  well tanned, refreshed and raring to go.  They will be there cheering Alan Kelly,  urging him on to fulfil Nero's destiny and send the lions in to maul the condemned protesters who defied him by refusing to pay.

For anyone not up to speed  with the issues around Irish Water,  Buncrana Together wrote an article (Fine Gael/Labour Government Panic Over Non Payment Of Water Charges).  This should give you details on the background.

What will his punishment be?  Will it have the desired effect?  The lions are waiting with bated breadth.   Will his punishment be, creating fast-track courts, taking money out of wages, deductions from social welfare benefits or putting it on rents or property?  He will give us his answer maybe this week.   As for the desired effect, Alan should take a  lesson from Nero who chose to persecute the Christians in hideous ways to cover up his mistakes.  Despite his great brutality Nero found himself public enemy and he was brought down.   

In the end of the day it may not matter what legislation the Irish Government brings in.  Fliuch, a Cork based anti water charge group, has told us " Apparently Alan Kelly is bringing in the legislation when they come back after the Easter break but whatever he brings in can't kick in until the already announced penalty dates expire."

Alan Kelly Minister for Environment

Interesting!   What penalties?  Does legislation exist already to tackle nonpayment?    

Irish Water state on their web page

"The Water Services Act (No.2) Act 2013 does not allow customers to be disconnected for not paying their water bill. Irish Water will engage with customers to understand the reason for non-payment and may be able to provide a solution, taking into account the customer’s circumstance.

All customers who have unpaid arrears of at least the annual capped charge and haven’t entered into a payment plan with Irish Water, will attract an automatic late payment penalty of €30 (1 adult household) or €60 (all other households) for each year that the charges remain unpaid. This will be added to bills three months following a year of non-payment."

So it turns out there are penalties on the statute books already,  kicking in after 15 months and these charges will be levied each year of non-payment.   

Ruth Coppinger TD

Ruth Coppinger, Socialist TD, said in the Irish Examiner on March 24, 2015
"On penalties we will now have to see if the Government are going to change the law for a third time, their only other option is to impose heavy fines, let’s see if they dare to change the law,”