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Monday, March 30, 2015

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Monday 30 March 2015

Here's the good news from Irish Water

Too many benefit from the Irish Water bonanza to think of stopping the fantasy now, writes Gene Kerrigan

PUBLISHED29/03/2015 | 02:30
  • 100COMMENTS

Illustration: Tom HallidayOPEN GALLERY 1
Illustration: Tom Halliday
Well, done, Alan Kelly. The dynamic, ambitious Minister for Privatising the Water Supply has done an excellent job. First: there's been a late surge in people signing up with Irish Water - 130,000 in the past month.

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And the size of the street protests has been reduced to mere (!) tens of thousands.
Second: his comrade Pat Rabbitte has exposed RTE as a cabal of left-wing infiltrators which, for some reason, has allegedly chosen to act as a "recruiting sergeant" for the anti-Water Tax protesters.
Third: from the Dail debate on water charges comes the news that Irish Water has managed to borrow €300m, at 2.5pc interest.
Fourth: as we gaze in wonder at the achievements of Irish Water we are hugely entertained by an advert that shows us precisely how our money is being used to repair the leaky water system. Well done, Irish Water.
Fifth: even as you read these words, Irish Water's dynamic billing system is poised to spew no fewer than 1.7 million bills right across the State. There won't be a nook or a cranny in which to hide. Wherever you are - like Liam Neeson in an action movie - Irish Water will find you.
And sixth: dynamic, ambitious Alan Kelly, Minister for Threatening Voters, hints that he may set up courts that will fast-track non-payers, so Irish Water can deduct its tax from wages and dole payments.
And - late news - here comes the Commission for Energy Regulation, which has the job of regulating Irish Water and will no doubt do a wonderful - and very fair - job.
It's all go, isn't it? Makes you wonder what all the fuss was about.
From the beginning, the Irish Water project has been based on a fantasy.
The company will borrow billions. But this money won't go onto the government debt, because (wink, nudge) Irish Water is an independent commercial company.
Thus, the government can use the company to do its borrowing, keeping the fiscal deficit (God bless it) below the target set by the state's head office in Frankfurt.
The actual level of government debt doesn't matter - it's the appearance that matters.
This glow of fantasy now permeates the whole Irish Water project. Just about everything they've claimed above is fantasy.
What? You mean, there hasn't been a surge of 130,000 signing up to Irish Water in March, like the minister says?
Joe Higgins has noticed that at the end of February the figure of total sign-ups given by Irish Water was virtually the same as the figure now. There was no surge.
Who ya gonna believe? The Minister? Or Irish Water? Your choice.
But, you can't deny that RTE is hopelessly biased in favour of people who throw water balloons at Joan Burton?
Well, the Irish Times did a detailed assessment of the spread of interviews carried on 11 RTE programmes - and the pro and anti politicians seemed to me to get a fair shake.
Mind you, the Irish Times said that if you divide the number of interviews by the percentage of votes each party got at the last election you might see a certain bias that - wait a minute.
That's nonsense. That would mean a huge grassroots movement, tens of thousands on the streets, hundreds of thousands refusing to pay - could not be recognised by RTE, because it didn't get votes at the last election.
The allegation from Rabbitte is silly. And I don't go along with the anti-water-tax people who claim that RTE is the state's mouthpiece.
Some within RTE kiss government ass - it's a habit. Some have conservative mindsets that so favour the status quo that they aren't even aware of their bias. And there has also been much exemplary and rigorously fair reporting from RTE.
It's good news about Irish Water being able to borrow €300m, right?
At 2.5pc? Barry Cowen pointed out in the Dail that the National Treasury folk borrow on behalf of the state at 1pc. But, of course, we've got to shell out real money to preserve the fantasy structure of this whole project.
Well, at least we have that cartoon advert in which Irish Water magically fixes the water supply, neglected for decades by the likes of Enda Kenny.
We do, indeed, at a cost of €650,000.
And doesn't it merely make our point?
To show Irish Water fixing leaks they have to use animation - because instead of spending hundreds of millions fixing the leaks, Irish Water is spending hundreds of millions installing meters. Allegedly to raise money to, eh, fix the leaks.
At least, the 1.7 million bills they're about to send out are real.
Unfortunately, the company admits that 700,000 of the bills will be incorrect. People will "get a bill that they should not get".
They've got 750 workers standing by at a 24-hours-a-day call centre, so when you get your bill you can ring and ask if it's correct. That should cost a million or ten.
The fast-track courts?
That's dynamic Alan Kelly being too gutless to substantiate his threats with detail. Some flunky leaks the threat and Alan says he can't comment, as he hasn't brought any measures to Cabinet yet.
The notion of the State enforcing debt collection on behalf of an allegedly commercial company - that will undermine the whole project, even if Eurostat is persuaded to accept massaged figures.
Irish Water is a fantasy out of control. And it doesn't just cost us huge money paid to executives, plus bonuses (or what they insist on calling "performance-based awards"). It costs tens of millions shovelled out to consultants.
So many of the already well-off have profited from the fantasy that it's hard to see how these people can get their heads out of the trough long enough to recognise reality. Why would they wish to, when the fantasy pays so well? Politicians just plod on, hoping something will change.
This Commission for Energy Regulation, which is supposed to regulate Irish Water - the Dail was told the CER wants to hire consultants to advise them how to regulate Irish Water. And the going rate is €900,000.
Meanwhile, consultants are doing their best to equip ministers with sound bites, in order to divide us.
Well-paid advisers have prepared little anecdotes for ministers to spout - about two people sitting on a bus, one pays the Water Tax and the other doesn't. And the government just wants to treat us equally, fairly.
The truth is, the person sitting beside me on the bus isn't affected at all. If I pay, their Water Tax won't go down; if I don't pay it won't go up. Kelly and his comrades have been told to talk of us as selfish people who "don't want to pay for anything". I've been paying taxes since before Kelly was born and I've never complained and never will - I like to have street lights and nurses and cops and roads and sewers, and I'm happy to pay for them.
I'm not happy to be a patsy for a fantasy project with the declared purpose (it's in their internal documents) of turning us from "citizens" into "customers". I'm not happy that these people refuse to concentrate on the desperate state of the water pipes - instead, they concentrate on installing their "revenue stream".
Among those last week telling us to behave ourselves was, I'm told, Brendan Howlin, the Minister for Policing Austerity. Unfortunately, I don't have a note of what Brendan said.
But I do have a quote from him, from immediately before the last general election: "We're not in favour of water charges... our manifesto has set out that we are against water charges".
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YOUR COMMENTS

Comments that are judged to be defamatory, abusive or in bad taste are not acceptable and contributors who consistently fall below certain criteria will be permanently blacklisted. Comments must be concise and to the point. The moderator will not enter into debate with individual contributors and the moderator’s decision is final. The comment facility is removed after 48 hours.




pensioner_dave
Excellent article, well written with a little humour and a lot of truth. I wonder what Brendan and our Dear Leader will put in their next manifesto? There won't be much about how well Irish Water is doing and how sorry they are that they allowed a badly planned concept become an expensive shambles.


knotweed
Pity we don't have regular hard satire in the media here. It might make those in the public eye less cocky.

sanmar45
They just do not understand Irish water have created a monster I understand it but the its the elderly or the pensioners that is the problem typical example is the fear to use water even before metering and I am talking about people who go to public buildings to keep warm during the winter they are afraid to run up a water bill. My point is that they are afraid and they vote they have registered with Irish Water mostly out of fear

26May1999
I notice the nameless people on here trolling for the government never made any comment on my reference earlier to the bonus culture being awarded to tierney and his workforce. 
Would they be so kind as to justify these bonuses now??? 

Eyeswideopen
It's a shakedown and a carefully plan by national/international Capitalist vultures to crucify the brow beaten citizens to the cross of making massive profits from Irish Water. This is only the start as any other scarce or important resource will be taken over in the same manner. On a worldwide scale many feel the next World War will be fought over access to water. We're only small fish in a very scummy pond. You're not meant to know what's going on and any attempt at resistance will be ruthlessly crushed by the controlled mainstream media and servile politicans. The only weapon to use in resistance is knowledge/information and the vigorous use of social media which has not been brought under control and can operate under the radar. And of course your vote at the next election. 

DevOMax
I can see, in the not so distant future, the same arguments being used to justify an Environmental Protection charge, a street lighting charge, a footpath charge, a hospital trolly charge, a costal errosion charge, a street sweeping charge, a road sign posting charge, a political party funding charge. 
If you make an argument for a charge for one thing that is, until now, payed for out of general taxation why not everything else? 



PEEPBO
@DevOMax The establishment political classes, and state apparatus will bleed us dry. Time for the majority of citizens to take a stand against the insiders.   And no better way than the issue over our water.  

WBY273
@DevOMax The political party funding charge is already there. Go look up what the blueshirts have received since 2011: several million of taxpayers monies.

patrick2
So it's a battle between those who'll pay their water bill and those who wont - This is going to be interesting - 
1.23 million households have now registered with Irish Water - Only 150,000 haven't bothered - So that's 90% versus 10% - I guess they will pay majority will carry the day - The water charges will be implemented....



FGLabourHero
@patrick2  As the author indicated 1.7M bills are to be sent ... it would be nice if you could at least attempt the match .... 1.23 + .15 does not make 1.7 even if we are to believe your 1.23 figures as anyway accurate.

westrain
@patrick2 Because people have registed does not mean they will pay


patrick2
@westrain @patrick2 - Well let's get real most people will pay - the country has no viable alternative to avoid paying for the water - The SF alternative is to scrap the water charges and get the rich to pay for it - That's how socialism works...


walkingtulip
Wrong Patrick thats how you and the rest of the paid trolls would like us believe. Party is nearly over my friend dont be worrying.

26May1999
Apologies for the caps here but. .....PLEASE IGNORE THESE 1.7 MILLION WRONGLY CHARGED BILLS. THE TRICK IS FOR iw TO GET YOU TO REPLY, then they have you nabbed. These people are desperate, why else would we have minister kelehan on here on a Sunday evening?

kevin-kelehan
The assumption that Irish Water can be privatised is a fantasy; it loses €700m a year; borrowing €500m a year it incurs €12.5m a year in interest costs each year although efficiency savings are running at €20m a year. Fast forward 10 years 

1. Irish Water has lost €6.5bn - €7bn 
2. Irish Water owes €5bn 
3. Irish water is still losing €625m a year

Who is going to buy it? Why would they want to buy it? 

1.23m households and not people have registered 20,000 - 30,000 people in a lower number of households are protesting. People understand that clean drinking water and lakes and rivers costs money; they understand that a country borrowing €5bn a year to fund day to day spending does not already pay; they know vat did not go up in 1997 as claimed by the protest number exaggerators, they know that motor taxes transferred to the Dept of Transport in 2007. 

What sustains this debate at this stage are two things, internet trolls spewing personal abuse and political parties with nothing to  offer themselves needing something to kick. 



26May1999
@kevin-kelehan Minister Kelehan, when you and phil did Your homework prior to releasing this monster quango on the Irish people, did You not realise just what You were getting yourselves into? IW is the greatest waste of money of all time, anyone with a brain knows that You FIX something you want to public to pay for, NOT get them paying prior to fixing the leaks. Now You come along here and tell us how much money is being BORROWED, yet I haven't heard ONE WORD about reducing/ELIMINATING the hated bonuses you gave Tierney and his buddies, OR cutting the staff in half.

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