**ALL THINGS IRISH WATER/WATER RELATED** Part 2 - MOD WARNING IN OP

Stargate wrote: »

Called you on it , asked you to prove it?

Your reply ...


Very good , you lied glad you cleared that up !

Stargate wrote: »

Ha ...FYP

As for your edit ..fair enough , you dont want to converse with me , that is fine by me Little CuChulainn .

Creative Juices wrote: »

The 4 reasons why I have completely changed my mind on water charges and Irish Water

1. Because I naively believed the "New Politics". Then I learned more about Hubert Kearns, David O'Connor, Denis O'Brien
2. Because of the way underutilised local authority staff have been dumped into Irish Water to make it another bureaucracy similar to that other shocking organisation, the HSE
3. Because of the utter arrogance and duplicity of the government and IW managers in relation to charges, customer service and infrastructure renewal.
4. Because of the unbelievable bias by the Irish media primarily RTE and the Indo.

Now I want Irish Water abolished and this inept government to collapse in a heap.

Ghost Buster wrote: »

You know. Ive figured out whats going on with Dx and Phoebas and Little CuChulain and their ilk.
Indulge me whilst i tell you a yarn first:
Years back when all the scandal about Haughey was coming to light and the tribunals were taking place in Dublin Castle the results of a study were released which found that after Italy Ireland was the most corrupt politically. Second to a country with the Mafia eh!!
Anyway. This auld fella in the town, staunch FF supporter, GAA man, business man stands up in front of me and some friends and band stands.....
"Those people have no right to call our ways corrupt. It just the way it works here. You do a bit for your country and (makes grab and pocket gesture accompanied by a fffffftch sound)you take a bit for your self.
That horrified me but over the years i came to realise that that generation and mind set, because they have never known another way, genuinely dont see anything wrong in what Enda referred to as schleeveen politics.

Now i dont think its a generational thing. There are obviously those still out there (and on here) who dont see the issue with political corruption .
Scary aint it:eek:

teddy_303 wrote: »

Mr 1%....

Irish Steve wrote: »

And what has to happen, by whatever peaceful means is possible, is that we have to persuade the "normal" voter of Ireland that the status quo that they have accepted as "normal" for the last 3 generations is NOT normal, and HAS to be changed for the sake of the future of all of us.

the Political machines have to be made accountable, and even more importantly, the people at the top of the Civil Service, and the Semi State companies and Quangos also have to be fully accountable for their actions, (and in some cases, their INactions)

It's no longer acceptable that things like the CRC slush funds and charity funds issues are not completely transparent and their boards answerable to the people. It's no longer acceptable that the people have no say or control over things like state pensions and allowances, the bottom line is that WE are paying those bills, and the extremes and abuses that have been revealed over the last while are offensive and obscene.

What also has to happen is that the people have to realise that they have to be more engaged and involved in the process of making the politicians and their Golden Circle more accountable for their actions, AND more responsive to the clearly voiced concerns of the people.

In terms of specifics, my agenda for change includes:-

State employees that retire before the normal retirement age would not be allowed to draw from their pension if they take other work, with exceptions allowed for services like the Fire service and the Gardai, and armed forces, where physical fitness are a fundamental part of the job.

State employment will no longer be guaranteed for life, the same rules, and benefits will be applied to the state sector as are applied to the private sector, in terms of redundancy pay etc.

A top to bottom review of all "special allowances and payments" for the state sector will be made, and compared to the private sector, and where there are inappropriate differences, there will be changes.

Politicians pay and allowances will be subject to an approval on the general election voting paper, to ensure that the practice of paying themselves extra that has no relation to reality is no longer possible. Every other trade or profession is regulated by either profit or management, or shareholders, it's appropriate that the shareholders of Ireland Inc should be able to determine the pay and conditions of the people running Ireland Inc.

Procedures for the removal of non performing state employees need to be put into place, and that doesn't mean having a way to move people to another department, or sideways.

The constitution has to be changed to bring in a requirement that if a petition receives more than a defined % of signatures, the political system has to take note of that petition and act to either hold a referendum style vote, or otherwise respond to that petition in a timely manner.

Any person convicted of fraud, corruption, or other similar offences, including tax evasion, is disbarred from serving in political office for at least 10 years, or maybe even longer.

The Seanad electoral system will be reformed to make the members of the second chamber more representative of the country, with the Government no longer able to use it as a "reward" for their TD's that lost their seats, and a dramatic reduction in the university voted seats.

An option on the voting system at general elections to positively vote "None of the above". If that % nationally is above a designated %, the entire election is void, and ALL parties have to review their manifestos (and possibly their candidates) before a re run of the election

No TD shall serve more than 4 consecutive terms in office.

No TD shall receive "special allowance" payments if they are not re-elected.

TD's "attendance" allowances be discontinued, and unvouched expense are no longer permitted.

Dail and Seanad sittings be brought into line with better business practice, and long breaks are no longer permitted.

Taxation systems reformed to ensure that local authorities are adequately funded from taxes that are appropriate to the local level.

The HSE and IW are reviewed to determine their real staffing requirement, with the surplus being retired with appropriate separation packages.

Health reviewed to reduce the administrative overhead that is involved in non health activities such as billing insurance companies for time, services and drugs. Serious consideration given to a fundamental change of the manner in which health is funded and provided.

A & E and emergency services charges for self inflicted injury due to alcohol abuse introduced

Quangos reviewed to determine if they really serve any useful purpose now, and if they don't they are closed.

Pensions for both the public and private sector become a mandatory part of employment, deductable at source, and transferrable between employments.

Self employed is not longer regarded as a different employment status, and the self employed pay PRSI at both employee AND employer rate, and become eligible for all social welfare services and assistance services.

There are other areas, but hey, the list above is a mountain to climb, and will take some serious work to get even some of the changes implemented, but a modern and progressive Ireland has to see some of these changes in order to remain a vital and active part of modern Europe.

Irish Water is in among this agenda, we should I suppose be thankful to people like Tierney and his cohorts, in that their excesses and abuse have been the catalyst that has (AT LAST) got people motivated to bring about real change, and no longer accept everything that the Golden Circle expects the people to swallow without question.

Do I need popcorn or a tin hat?