Water Bill.

kenmc

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Don't worry... Enda is only going to be Taoiseach as long as it suits Martin and FF, and he'll be pushed out soon enough by another leadership challenge from Leo/Coveney etc

That's even better IMO - so incompetent and arrogant that he managed to make FF electable again.

that's still at least one day too long

_Kaiser_

Ush1 wrote: »

Absolute joke.

I now have to listen to my lefty numpty mate about how wrong I was to pay and it serves me right.

Well to be fair, IW was never simply the utility they wanted us to believe it was - it's been a political football that's been dogged by controversy and U-turns throughout.

I'd say most people who haven't paid aren't doing so because they were waiting to see how it'd all turn out. It's been known before Christmas that it was likely to fall as a result of the probable election outcome

_Kaiser_

kenmc wrote: »

that's still at least one day too long

Yeah but think about how sick it must make him. Rather than being gloriously swept back to power as the only FG Taoiseach in history to get a second/consecutive term (which was his goal all along), he's now only there until it suits FF to pull the plug/one of his colleagues replaces him as leader.

Kenny will go down as one of the worst "leaders" we've had yet IMO

smash

darkpagandeath wrote: »

They can when your bill gets to €500 and then apply to the courts for an attachment. But not before €500.

In how many years time?

darkpagandeath

smash wrote: »

In how many years time?

Well none if they stop charges this week for example. I cant seem them allowing a none company to continue to lump on fines after the charges are dropped. So in that case the amount will never reach the €500 mark they need to trigger the use of the legislation.

Seth Brundle

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Well to be fair, IW was never simply the utility they wanted us to believe it was - it's been a political football that's been dogged by controversy and U-turns throughout.

To be fair, IW has not done much wrong and if it is removed and we're forced back into something like the old system, it will cost a lot more in the long run.
But yes, it's implementation from a political perspective has been an unmitigated disaster.

Ush1

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Well to be fair, IW was never simply the utility they wanted us to believe it was - it's been a political football that's been dogged by controversy and U-turns throughout.

I'd say most people who haven't paid aren't doing so because they were waiting to see how it'd all turn out. It's been known before Christmas that it was likely to fall as a result of the probable election outcome

Well from what I understand there is an independant commision which will make a call in 9 months, so it's not gone yet. Did the IMF not mandate the introduction of water charges?

smash

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Well none if they stop charges this week for example. I cant seem them allowing a none company to continue to lump on fines after the charges are dropped. So in that case the amount will never reach the €500 mark they need to trigger the use of the legislation.

Exactly.

darkpagandeath

kbannon wrote: »

To be fair, IW has not done much wrong and if it is removed and we're forced back into something like the old system, it will cost a lot more in the long run.
But yes, it's implementation from a political perspective has been an unmitigated disaster.

How will it cost more ?

darkpagandeath

Ush1 wrote: »

Well from what I understand there is an independant commision which will make a call in 9 months, so it's not gone yet. Did the IMF not mandate the introduction of water charges?

We are not under the IMF or Troika for years now.

Merrion

I think non-payment of any bill can be put on your credit score even if it doesn't go to court so I'd suggest you do pay if you are looking to get any credit in the next year or so?

jimgoose

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

The middle class will now subsidize people who waste water through reduced after tax income. The only way for you to pay less for water and sewage treatment is to earn less, the cost bears no relation to your usage. How anyone can claim that situation is rational or "fair" is beyond me.

So the filthy, unwashed, working-class oiks are deliberately pissing away water at a terrifying rate while cackling maniacally, are they? I think you'll find nearly half of it is being pissed away by crumbling Victorian infrastructure before anyone ever sees a drop, oik or otherwise.

dodzy

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

Paying, or not paying is entirely down to individual choice imo. (I chose to ignore Irish water for entirely personal, and individual reasons) however, this whole debacle is the most shining example of ineptitude from a govt ever.

Er.... Those that paid won't be refunded, those that didn't pay will be chased for the money they didn't pay.

Yet in the legislation they legislated, the only means open for chasing non payers was when the bill surpassed €500.

Yet they capped charges at €260 max, then suspended them.

Fcukin faucets circus.

smash

Merrion wrote: »

I think non-payment of any bill can be put on your credit score even if it doesn't go to court so I'd suggest you do pay if you are looking to get any credit in the next year or so?

If you never registered with IW then they can not ever give you a mark against a credit score.

jimgoose

Ush1 wrote: »

Absolute joke.

I now have to listen to my lefty numpty mate about how wrong I was to pay and it serves me right.

Your righty numpty mate here reckons he has a point! :pac:

jimgoose

Merrion wrote: »

I think non-payment of any bill can be put on your credit score even if it doesn't go to court so I'd suggest you do pay if you are looking to get any credit in the next year or so?

IW is not a member of the Irish Credit Bureau and utility companies in general have no bearing on credit scoring in Ireland. The ICB clarified this in 2014.

Mr Freeze

Wait till they ask people to give the 100 euro grant back?

That will be fun.

smash

smash wrote: »

But under legislation they can't take you to court because the debt is under €500.

We had this discussion on another thread and were confused as to when the fines kicked in. Is it €60 per year per bill - ie €60 x 4 or just one €60 per 12 month period. If people haven't registered or engaged with IW and the extra charge is per bill per year, they'd hit the €500 in less than a year.

I am a supporter of the idea of water charges, so must warn people to keep in mind that the money will have to come from another source. In this case it appears to be the USC, meaning that the hard pressed middle income worker pays for all - again.

Alf Stewart.

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

The middle class will now subsidize people who waste water through reduced after tax income. The only way for you to pay less for water and sewage treatment is to earn less, the cost bears no relation to your usage. How anyone can claim that situation is rational or "fair" is beyond me.

It was recently shown that on avg, we use 80L water, revised down from 150L originally estimated (or plucked from ones backside) so we don't waste water at all, at all.

As for the middle class subsidising anyone else, even if water charges had gone through, thems the plans Enda had in store (generous allowances, and state aid for those unable to play)

Seth Brundle

darkpagandeath wrote: »

How will it cost more ?

How will having multiple agencies (that are already short on finances) oversee and maintain our potable and waste water systems rather than one entity?
Really?

Deise Vu

As I find it hard to be arsed about a Mickey Mouse charge like the water charge when I am paying about twenty times as much for a Universal Social Charge that is not universal, I was paying my water charge by direct debit. When Barry Cowen and Simon Coveney informed me that they would happily take my money if I continued to pay it but they wouldn't be giving it back any time soon I did what any sensible citizen would do and cancelled the Debit months ago. In fairness to me, even when I can easily afford it, it would be crazy to pay when FF and FG have joined the Everything Is Free Alliance.

When I checked online for my latest bill (having received an email that it was due) I checked it out and it is showing a zero liability and a zero payment for the current bill and my last one. Am I the only person this has happened to or is Irish Water already taking a pragmatic approach of not charging if they aren't going to get paid? I suppose if they keep trying to get Direct Debits that have been blocked they would incur serious bank charges for no return.

Ush1

jimgoose wrote: »

Your righty numpty mate here reckons he has a point! :pac:

Being glad to see the government take money erroneously from ordinary citizens?

smash

Deleted User wrote: »

We had this discussion on another thread and were confused as to when the fines kicked in. Is it €60 per year per bill - ie €60 x 4 or just one €60 per 12 month period. If people haven't registered or engaged with IW and the extra charge is per bill per year, they'd hit the €500 in less than a year.

If you've never registered, you have every right to treat their letters as junk mail.

Deleted User wrote: »

I am a supporter of the idea of water charges, so must warn people to keep in mind that the money will have to come from another source. In this case it appears to be the USC, meaning that the hard pressed middle income worker pays for all - again.

But this is scaremongering at best. It was being paid for through taxation before IW was set up. I agree that the allocation for water services wasn't managed properly but it was still being paid for. The money that has been sunk in to IW at this stage would have fixed most of the water issues in the country but instead we're left with a toxic company.

JustTheOne

We love a bit of irony.

FF create a mess that we need the troika to bail us out.

FF sign us up to water charges as part of this bailout.

Five years later FF say they will abolish water charges, the people swallow it and hey presto they are back in government.

Populism at its finest, we are a bunch of idiotic, couch swallowing, selfish clowns.

The mind boggles, we will never learn.

smash

smash wrote: »

If you've never registered, you have every right to treat their letters as junk mail.


But this is scaremongering at best. It was being paid for through taxation before IW was set up. I agree that the allocation for water services wasn't managed properly but it was still being paid for. The money that has been sunk in to IW at this stage would have fixed most of the water issues in the country but instead we're left with a toxic company.

We still have the company and we still have the charge. I would be careful about telling people to not pay, as it may have repercussions down the road.

IW has done great work since it was set up, despite this fact not suiting some.

mariaalice

Bin charges anyone? To people of a certain age there was a time when local authorities collected bins for FREE ( or paid out of central taxation ) Now we all pay bin charges of one sort or another.

Irish water is headed the same way.

I am not looking for my money back but I would like a credit against what every charges come in.

diomed

I was happy to pay water charges. We need good water services. I would be happy to let them keep the money I paid.
Property tax is much higher that water charges. Silence on that.

Have Fianna Fail hitched themselves onto the anti-water charges bandwagon so that they can collect cheap votes? Does that clean the slate of all Fianna Fail mis-management? (abolishing a necessary charge).

Back to the good old days of spend, spend, spend followed by begging Europe for a bit of help.

smash

Deleted User wrote: »

We still have the company and we still have the charge. I would be careful about telling people to not pay, as it may have repercussions down the road.

Such as? Come on... entertain me.

Deleted User wrote: »

IW has done great work since it was set up, despite this fact not suiting some.

You're having a laugh, right?

diomed wrote: »

I was happy to pay water charges. We need good water services. I would be happy to let them keep the money I paid.
Property tax is much higher that water charges. Silence on that.

It's only a matter of time before water charges are applied to property tax.

Anyone else notice something odd about the photo on the Independent website?

I mean, they probably had hundreds of photos of Enda Kenny. But the one they pick is him drinking a bottle of water. On an article about Irish Water.

Maybe I'm thinking too much about it, but it made me laugh.

jimgoose

Ush1 wrote: »

Being glad to see the government take less money erroneously from ordinary citizens?

:cool: