Water charges for excessive usage

McMurphy wrote: »

I'll enlarge your own text that you seem to have forgotten that you posted.




Lol, you're parody at this stage, both yourself and a few other busted flushes like to gloss over uncomfortable truths and soft the markers.

What are you on about now?

charlie14 wrote: »

The definition of a criminal offence is a public wrong, an act harmful to not just an individual but also to a community, society or the state.


The complete waste of taxpayers money on a political ideology for me was criminal in that it deprived the state and thus society of revenue that should have been put to better use.

Especially during a period of austerity during the worst recession in our history.

What political ideology. Water meters have been proposed by politicians of all ideologies. Mistake that was made was following the green agenda. A water charge should have been imposed just like the household charge and then put on water meters. Labour party was too busy looking over it shoulders at the Greens. If a water charge had been imposed and had used revenue to collect it just like household charge we all be paying today.

Government got the cart before the horse. Labour received it rightful thanks in the next election for it carry on during that government

How is this thread still going? While water charges make sense in a non banana republic. Here you would have half the population paying for the fifty Percent “ vulneable “ the usual story in this kip. take it out of general taxation. Far “ fairer “

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

I was asked for my suggestion as to how to pay for water. I suggested similar to what you suggest. Simple method everyone pays no escaping Revenue.
Makes you wonder why FG took the route they did, although I strongly suspect it was a privatisation ideology that created the mess we have now.

charlie14 wrote: »

Others may have paid it lip-service but none were dumb enough to attempt it.
FG were not following the Green agenda in introducing metering.
The Greens did not even have a TD in the 31st. Dáil.

It was FG`s own brain fart. Labour had campaigned against water charges, but played ball to get their behinds on cabinet seats. Something they got their just rewards for in 2016, but FG didn`t go unscathed either.

They could have used revenue, but then there would have been no possibility of privatisation down the line, Something that FG ideologically are very favourable towards

My understanding is that some in FG wanted to go with. Flat rate for 2-3 years. It was as Labour that wanted water meters not to be outflanked by the Greens. Phil Hogan was minister in charge and backed them.

There was an element of trying to get a large labour intensive construction type project to get people from that area jobs. Biggest problem was quango set up was top heavy and FG and Labour were remiss in not making sure costs were kept in check and that realistic water charge rate were I acted. However the whole project snowballed out of control.

However they have not gone away and I expect that they will come back into play again in the next 5-10 years as our underfunded water supply continues to creak and break

charlie14 wrote: »

I don`t know where this understanding of yours comes from. It sound like an attempt to re-write history tbh.



Labour campaigned on a manifesto in 2011 of opposing water charges. FG`s Enda Kenny promised only to introduce them when we had a world class service.
It was FG`s baby that Labour went along with to their detriment. Plain and simple.



Labour were not being "outflanked" by the Greens. The Greens were wiped out in 2011.



I do not know what area this was supposed to provide jobs for. Water metering was nationwide. I don`t see how Labour or anyone else was going to just employ people from a particular area to install water meters countrywide.


Don`t kid yourself, water metering was a financial and political disaster. Nobody will touch it for generations.


Even the arguement of metering freeing up money for other uses has lost any credibility it may have had with the Children Hospital and the National Broadband Plan being so far off the original estimates with the broadband network that the state is investing 3 Billion in, when the single bidder for the contract will own the network.

What did Labour not oppose in the 2011 Election especially in the last few days as FG surged to within an overall majority. They promised no cuts in public service pay, no imposition of third level fees, no cuts to health or social welfare. They promised reform and they promised jobs.

Too many older politician in Labour wanted there legs under that cabinet table one last time. Yes the Green were wiped but Labour did not see the rise of Sinn Fein and the hard left in the early part of that government until too late. it was more focused on the Greens what it taught might be a Green agenda. Just like nobody say the Green surge in the last local election.

The Childrens Hospital has been driven by an ideology that wanted it in Dublin City Center rather than looking at a greenfield site ( not just FG but FF, Labour and the Greens all bought into this agenda) and the NBP is a disgrace as well.


But trying to blame water charges on an ideology is not looking at the facts. FF only withdrew from water charges after SF out flanked. SF was outflanked by RBB and PBP. The Greens are all for water charges and Labour never really had an issue but opposed everything in 2011 as it saw FG heading for an overall majority.

Benedict wrote: »

Time and time again this thread has demonstrated that the claim by IW that metered and non-metered homes can be treated equally when it comes to charging for water is farcical. IW appear to be buying time while praying that they can figure out some way of convincing the metered half of society that they must comply with the quota rules while the non-metered half sit back and smile.

They need to pray much harder.

And that is because half the houses are non-metered because of the it being used as a political football by the hard left. At some stage in the next 5-10 years the government will start by bringing in a flat rate water charge,

It is interesting that co-op run group water schemes are being pressurized to meter all houses and encouraged to charge for excessive water usage, As well they can set the excessive usage figure at way below the excessive water figure of IW.

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks, Brendan. I was actually a bit shocked at their last couple of posts, but decided to ignore them given the time posted.

I wouldn’t let it bother you too much MaryAnne.

I have no problem in posters defending their view, but when some start putting words into your mouth and using every post to ‘misinterpret’ your posts and throw in the ‘almost obligatory’ anti FG, anti Taoiseach hackneyed rhetoric,it gets quite tiresome.

Nevin Parsnipp wrote:

In fairness Kenny was one of those who brought the country back from the brink of bankruptcy.

The banks were bankrupt, the country wasn't doing too bad at all, public expenditure and public debt was well under control before the crash

Wanderer78 wrote: »

public expenditure ...... was well under control before the crash

No, the expenditure was based on completely unsustainable levels of income. When income returned to normal, it showed how out of control spending was.

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Expenditure was based on unsustainable taxes such as stamp duty, strangely enough, so is our current situation with corporate tax.

Well it's a bit silly then to say that that expenditure was under control then? Spending, followed the huge unsustainable rise in income.