Madam, – Minister for the Environment John Gormley’s plan to install water meters in every home in the country represents yet another clandestine tax on an increasingly cash-strapped public (Home News, December 8th). Along with waste collection charges, higher annual motor taxes and “carbon” taxes, a metered water tax would be an unreasonable burden for the average household to endure, particularly during a severe recession.
Proponents of the scheme point to its “potential to create jobs”, however this is an overly simplistic reason to implement a widespread and permanent means of taxing the public. While in the short term employment may benefit, it is highly unlikely that a bureaucracy with a track record of inefficient spending would be able to put the vast sum of €600 million to better use than the invisible hand of market forces.
Removing money from consumers’ pockets via taxes during times of economic contraction makes no sense and directly contradicts the tenets of counter-cyclical economic theory.
A vast proportion of our potable water is lost before it even reaches our taps. In some areas an antiquated, Victorian-era supply network of cast-iron pipes allows an incalculable amount of water to escape – this would continue to be the case even if metering were implemented. Investing the €600 million directly in upgrading our supply network would have a more beneficial impact on efficiency and prevent taxpayers’ money disappearing, along with our water, into the Black Hole of Calcutta.
Having endured the wettest November on record, the public is up to its neck in water; charging for it will add insult to injury. – Yours, etc,