Sir, – We now have more “experts” trying to solve what the previous “experts” were not expert enough to solve – the conundrum with regard to water charges. Any expert will tell you that all these “experts” have been paid expert expenses. Any expert will also tell you that the taxpayer will have to foot these ludicrously expensive “expert” fees on top of paying for water. Where will it all end? In my expert opinion, down a leaking pipe perhaps? – Yours, etc,
ROSI O’SULLIVAN,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The water controversy is an example of “loudest are listened to” again.
Despite the fact that the majority of people paid for water, the minority, who are loudest, are being accommodated once again. Some 40,000 people who have not paid their bin charges are being absolved, quietly, of their debt by Dublin City Council. Their voices were loudest too and now they get their reward.
When will good citizens be rewarded? Those of us who pay our bills are being discriminated against.
It looks like the non-payers of water charges will be quietly absolved in the future, because the Government has not the courage to tackle these people who don’t want to pay for anything.
That is not a good way to govern. It is not fair or ethical, but is very annoying. It is time that those of us who are paying for everything are heard and listened to. The trouble is that we are too busy working to pay our bills! – Yours, etc,
SHEILA DEEGAN,
Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Sir, – Finally, it appears, political reality has dawned and the compromise which was clear to my mind as the most expedient way to implement water charges has found its way to the political table; Fianna Fáil’s apparently novel compromise idea of merging the water and property taxes in one single levy!
It just prompts the question as to why this option wasn’t implemented from the start; something which is puzzling given that most of those who tried to push this resisted water charge were all seasoned political players. The Fine Gael/Labour coalition quickly gauged the negative reaction to the property tax. That a water tax, hot on its heels, would be spectacularly unpopular should have been entirely foreseeable.
I can only conclude that it all came down to a smug belief by Fine Gael that it could steamroll the Irish public as governments had generally done with success.
With this current “compromise”, Fianna Fáil again illustrates why it has been the party most consistently returned to government in Ireland since the formation of the State. It is a wily and politically pragmatic party, with a better feel for gauging the pulse of public opinion and responding to this than its opponents.
Had this now suggested path been followed from the outset, the spectacular fiasco that we have watched play out for over three years now would have been avoided, and all required boxes would have been ticked. The much-repeated assertion that the charge must be implemented in order to satisfy EU obligations would have been satisfied. The method recommended now by the “expert commission”, whereby a charge only applies for “wasteful usage”, would have been easily achieved by including a household allocation for domestic and personal needs as part of the overall property tax, with a charge only kicking in once this allocation was exceeded.
Finally, Fine Gael would have romped home in February, had they followed that course. – Yours, etc,
JD MANGAN,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Sir, – I appear to have gone to sleep and woken up in some kind of fairyland.
It seems there is a new fantasy figure in this make-believe world, a generous fairy who pays all our taxes and charges so that we can spend our hard-earned money on everything but essentials.
Resplendent in his comic-book military uniform and mounted on his white charger, General Taxation is our newest superhero. Could GT also be persuaded to pay for our electricity and gas, and even our court costs? Surely anything is possible here in la-la land. – Yours, etc,
JOHN MULLIGAN,
Boyle,
Co Roscommon.
Sir, – The Environmental Protection Agency reported that 449,109 septic tanks were registered by 2014.
Before the introduction of water charges, these households (mainly in rural areas) have borne for years the considerable costs of maintenance, emptying, and upgrading of septic tanks as well as (in some cases) annual charges for water or the cost of regular testing of water quality from private wells. There are over 150,000 connections to private water schemes in Ireland, some involving individual private wells, bored and paid for by the user.
Water provision, and safe disposal of sewage and waste water, has to be paid for, as in almost every European country.
While rural dwellers have always paid for sewage treatment, urban dwellers have been getting away with it.
The anti-water-charges lobby argues that these charges are already covered by their taxes but rural dwellers (many working in industry and in the public service) pay the same taxes as those living in towns and cities. Should rural taxes subsidise urban water-treatment schemes?
If water charges are abolished, those who paid will demand a refund since (as several Ministers and TDs have already stated) all citizens must be treated equally. In that scenario, should rural dwellers who provide their own water, and dispose of the waste, get tax relief?
Perhaps some prominent anti-water campaigners would offer some equitable solution to this anomaly.
A discussion of this reality and a requirement to treat all citizens equally might have led to a more sensible approach to the issue. – Yours, etc,
T GLYNN,
Moycullen,
Co Galway.