Right2Water National Assembly - Weds 10th Dec 2014

by fred Sat Dec 06, 2014 18:22

It looks like Alan Kelly may be yet another EU traitor. He's no doubt worried that this clause will complicate privatisation of IW down the road so is seeking to undermine it. The clause itself is not unique to Ireland and does not actually mention Ireland but it is still a possible get out clause to avoid the necessity of metering and I suspect we are in compliance by taking 5% of motor taxes etc to pay for water services as we currently do.

Article 9
Recovery of costs for water services
1. Member States shall take account of the principle of recovery of the costs of water services, including environmental and resource costs, having regard to the economic analysis conducted according to Annex III, and in accordance in particular with the polluter pays principle.
Member States shall ensure by 2010
- that water-pricing policies provide adequate incentives for users to use water resources efficiently, and thereby contribute to the environmental objectives of this Directive,
- an adequate contribution of the different water uses, disaggregated into at least industry, households and agriculture, to the recovery of the costs of water services, based on the economic analysis conducted according to Annex III and taking account of the polluter pays principle.
Member States may in so doing have regard to the social, environmental and economic effects of the recovery as well as the geographic and climatic conditions of the region or regions affected.
2. Member States shall report in the river basin management plans on the planned steps towards implementing paragraph 1 which will contribute to achieving the environmental objectives of this Directive and on the contribution made by the various water uses to the recovery of the costs of water services.
3. Nothing in this Article shall prevent the funding of particular preventive or remedial measures in order to achieve the objectives of this Directive.
4. Member States shall not be in breach of this Directive if they decide in accordance with established practices not to apply the provisions of paragraph 1, second sentence, and for that purpose the relevant provisions of paragraph 2, for a given water-use activity, where this does not compromise the purposes and the achievement of the objectives of this Directive. Member States shall report the reasons for not fully applying paragraph 1, second sentence, in the river basin management plans.

“The Irish Exemption”

Update on Current Situation

by Kathy Sinnott

I recently tried to alert people to the existence of the “Irish Exemption”, Ireland’s unique exemption from domestic water charging based on Article 9.4 of the EU Water Framework Directive.

The exemption is based on the Irish Department of the Environment’s commitment, strategy and budget to rectify the inadequacies in our water management without metering.

This commitment is recorded in the 2008 Irish River Basin Management Plan. Former Minister for Environment John Gormley was able to confirm in 2008 that Ireland had obtained and was availing of the exemption from household water charges.

I was assured at the time by the European Commission that the EU couldn’t not take the exemption from us but Ireland could cancel it.

This week Minister for Environment Alan Kelly publicly denied we currently had an exemption from domestic water charging. He stated “We do not have a derogation because we now have committed to the model that we have.”

Fortunately he is wrong.

In trying to confirm the current situation, I contacted Brussels.

The good news is that the Water Framework Directive Article 9.4 exemption is still in place. The challenging news is that it is under imminent threat of cancellation by the Minister for the Environment, Alan Kelly himself!

In accordance with Article 9.4 of the Water Framework Directive our exemption is embedded in the 2008 River Basin Management Plan. Any renewal or cancellation of the exemption is done in the next 7 year RBMP. And it is the Minister for the Environment who assembles and submits this plan

This 2015 River Basin Management Plan is due on be handed into Brussels by New Years Day. Both the Irish government and the European Commission are expecting that Minister Kelly will not renew the exemption and will instead include domestic water charging as part of Ireland’s strategy.

Why are they so sure that the plan as yet incomplete and unpublished will include water charging? Because in 2010 the Troika told us to privatize and charge for water and both the Irish government and the EU Commission assume that we will meekly obey, that is we will state in the River Basin report that the only way we can protect our rivers is by charging for domestic water use!

But is this true?

If the money spent on metering is spent on pipe work the leaks will be repaired. And if the money already collected in taxes for water infrastructure was spent on upgrading treatment plants we would see a significant improvement to the water infrastructure to domestic homes and meet our part of the next 7 year targets on river basin management.

Because the EU water legislation is based on the “polluter pays principle”, the most obvious strategy for financing clean water is to identify the real polluters of water in Ireland and make them pay.

In the 2008 plan, the sources of pollution are listed. They included agriculture and rural septic tanks. These sources have been tackled at great expense to rural dwellers and significant improvement has been made and progress is ongoing.Other sources like quarrying, mining including old tailings ponds, leaking landfills, forestry, industry are still major sources of pollution.

If it is the polluter who is supposed to pay then it should be these for profit industries which should be paying for the purification of the water they polluter and for preventative measures not the ordinary householder who is already paying.

To give an example. We are told we need domestic water charging to deal with cryptosporidium in our water supply. But again is this true?

Uplands all over the country were planted in coniferous forests.. Unlike deciduous forests natural to Ireland, these plantations of Sitka spruce trees acidify the soil and do not break down animal waste effectively. After a few decades these forests are “clear felled” with heavy machinery that rips up the forests leaving the soils exposed. Heavy rains wash the animal waste and acid soil down hill to the river below. The resulting pollution provides ideal condition for cryptosporidium and other contaminants.

Why would the people in these areas who are innocent of causing the problem and who are already bearing the expense of bottled and boiled water asked to foot the bill for cleaning up water pollution they did not cause. The Department of the Environment should instead go to the real polluters,and recover the cost of cleaning up polluted water, or better preventing the pollution in the first place.

Privatization will not solve our water infrastructure problems because private companies are geared to profit. It will make sense to invest in 500 meters of new piping in a city because it will serve hundreds of paying houses. But it will cut into profits to replace 500 meters of leaking pipes in which serves only 5 homes. A privatized water system will still be a leaky water system!

Alan Kelly can save the Irish Exemption by making the commitment in the River Basin Management Plan that actual water polluters will pay, that funds collected for water infrastructure in existing taxes will be used to upgrade our systems and by creating incentives for improvements to domestic water use like rain water collection system.

There is still time to save the Irish Exemption…and the Irish people are in the mood to defend it because once the exemption is gone it is gone for good.

We have one month to save it.

God bless

Kathy Sinnott

Former Member of the European Parliament

Former Member of the European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

by rua Fri Dec 05, 2014 18:57

You raise a good point there fred :) the fact is that poor irish people are paying the same amount as a billionaire/millionaire - it should be proportional to our wage,ie a percentage of our earnings...Thats the way it should work - not a one size fits all approach..

by fred Fri Dec 05, 2014 17:55

I think the point is that people don't go to work and the country grinds to a halt on 10th Dec.

Now it looks like "bilderberger" noonan and his fellow FG/Lab political service providers for international capital and the EU
will be going ahead and paying unsecured junior bondholders to the tune of 1/4 billion euros while imposing
the same level of water charges on millionaires as on the poorest in society.

Yet another reason to hit the streets on 10th Dec

by traloch - rebel city Wed Dec 03, 2014 14:27

What idiot picked the date?
THE MARCH SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED FOR SATURDAY THE 13th.
How many people from around the country cant afford to leave work home or family to travel to Dublin mid week but would like to show opposition to the rain tax by being there.
My guess 300, 000 men women and children
How many would be able to travel on Saturday to Dublin and maybe have a break and proper day out with family and friends...

Another great shittttey example of the united left opposition acting in their own various self interests at the expense of those who they claim to be defending.
Ni neart go cur le cheile.
Enda has no clothes on but it dont make much difference cause most of those pointing that out are attending or looking forward to attending the financial whorehouse ; Dail eireann that enda will soon be leaving

by no to Irish Water Tue Dec 02, 2014 23:59

Tweet from Paul Murphy
#Watermeters stopped in #Templeogue and #Knocklyon. This thing is spreading. #wewontpay #nowatercharges

by fred Sat Nov 29, 2014 17:56

A "dirty protest" letter has sent Irish water's private company subcontractor into hysterics:
The garda forensics unit are at this very moment poring over somebody's excrement to try to discern whose poo it is.
Great use of Garda resources I must say!!. Gangland murders rage on, robberies are rife, drug use is spiralling, but meanwhile
forget that because the gardai's priority is to try to nail a water protester by poring over his/her poo.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/water/irish-water-....html

Is strawberry jam illegal too I wonder? ;-)

by Maura Harrington - Shell to Sea Tue Nov 25, 2014 01:29

Great to see this - all over the place!

For me, it was sweet to see the 'Public Order' unit strut into the Jobstown protest still thinking they were in Ballinaboy in November 2006 and then, when reality bit, sidle back out ...

Keep it up pixies!!

by T Mon Nov 24, 2014 22:52

There are plenty of protests and blockades of water meter installers taking place every day in Dublin

Pics from https://www.facebook.com/pages/HolylandsHillview-Says-N...15101

Almost 200 women staged a silent protest outside Coolock garda Station. Wearing pink hi-viz and each holding a candle it was an extraordinarily moving event.

by fred Mon Nov 24, 2014 13:00

Steven donnelly points out how keen the Troika were to privatise our water and electricity.
Water privatisation was number two on their list of "conditions" for not blowing up our economy.
In other circles you might refer to this as a "threat", "blackmail", a "hostage situation" or "financial terrorism"
but of course Trichet is a gentleman, he would never do such a thing. EU are our "friends" and our "partners".
Yeah right!

http://stephendonnelly.ie/perfect-gentleman-trichet-dic...land/

by T Fri Nov 21, 2014 22:46

Interestingly the fluoride in our water which is poisonous and is doing untold damage is also corrosive and is very likely leading to the high leakage rate in the system. If Irish Water are so concerned about this "pristine" and "precious" resource why don't they do two things at once? Remove the fluoride and thereby cut-down on the rate of corrosive and further leaks.

Bear in mind approximately 40% of all water is lost to leaks...

In this article from Jan 2010, Kathy Sinnott outlines the case.

...That approximately 40% of all water in Ireland is lost in leakage was widely publicised in recent weeks when so many pipes failed in the freeze. Though many people were previously unaware of the dire condition of the national network of water pipes, the rate of leakage – the highest in the EU – has been criticised by Brussels for some time. The excuse we are being given for this level of leakage is that the pipes are old, but this is not the whole story.

e are not unique among our EU neighbours in having old piping. What makes us unique is that we are the only country that as a matter of national policy pours a toxic industrial waste, hexa fluorisilic acid (fluoride), into our water. This acid is very severe and corrodes the pipes and joints over time. Even more is the damage it does to our health: infertility, bone diseases, cancer, thyroid disease, mental illness, reduced IQ in babies, heart disease, etc.

Though we are told that water is fluoridated to prevent dental cavities, the health authorities admit more than 40% of Irish teenagers now suffer from dental fluorosis, which is permanent damage to tooth enamel from too much fluoride....

by Tom Foley - none Mon Nov 17, 2014 18:06

The private Media continuous frame that the public is "confused about the water charge" "The public does not understand "How there

PPS numbers are going to be used" " the " Goverment is adressing this confusion" " infiltration by sinister elements" and so on.

This is a classic propaganda model in misinformation and disinformation framing the narrative and distraction from the fundamental

reason why hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets.

The Vast majority of people believe that water is a Human Right they are protesting for this principle that there should be no charge what so ever.

This is very clear when you speak to people., their is no confusion, full stop.

No Semi private company should have monopoly on this life giving resource, we would be dead in a matter of days without water.

How many mouths can you put around " A Trickle" this logic is a babaric conception.

Look what happened in Detroit USA hundreds of thousands of homes had there supply cut of by a private company because they could not or would not pay.

The vast majority of these home were poor marginalized black people.

The Media are Biased and this is a political agenda from the Gestapo Gazettes such as IT, Indo, examiner etc etc..

They Fear the people and are closing ranks, the editors have agreed amongst themselves how to frame this and are singing of the same script.

The use of the Police to break up local peaceful protest outside there properties or homes has politicalized the police.

The last time we heard of political policing for privately owned companies and universal media propaganda supporting the same agenda ,
is a phenomenon that happens within police states.

People Power is the only opposition to break this house of cards.

by Rua Thu Nov 13, 2014 13:09

It was alleged in the media that three gardai were attacked by water protesters,what i want to know is where are these 3 gardai in question?

Why haven't the media dragged them out and made a meal out of the story,or are they disinterested??

Is this story factual,can anybody come out and back it up?? Its not just damaging stories like these,the media is also indulging in distraction techniques such as the regular media mauling of Sinn Fein,which during the water and tax evasion fiasco,has really ramped up - all media spotlights seem to be heavily focused on Sinn Fein..

On radio 1 this morning i heard nothing more about the tax evasion,or water charges, or the fact that ministers havent touched their own wages while busy slashing ours..

It is clear what the agenda of the Denis O Brien media is!

by Right2Water Wed Nov 12, 2014 23:27

Right2Water finalising plans for December 10th event

It is regrettable that, having effectively ignored the massive resistance to these water charges until October 11, some media outlets have now turned on those protesters with scurrilous pieces alleging ‘infiltration’ by ‘sinister’ elements.

Between October 11 and November 1st upwards of 300,000 citizens took part in 109 demonstrations against this regressive double tax. These people are members of many political parties and none. Some are Trade Union members, some are not. Some have protested before, many have not.

But, with all their diversity, they do have two very important things in common. They all believe water is a human right, and they are all committed to campaigning for the abolition of domestic water charges.

These numbers are unprecedented in terms of a political and social campaign in Ireland. As a nation we have never seen anything like the unity of purpose and good humour, coupled with anger and determination to win this campaign, which has been present on these occasions. Given the huge numbers who have turned at the demonstrations organised by Right2Water, it is also extraordinary that not a single arrest has occurred at any of these events for any public order breach.

Right2Water is appalled that elements in the media are now taking these facts and attempting to spin them into a web of stories of ‘infiltration’, ‘aggression’ and ‘public disorder’. To do so is an insult to readers and listeners – and, most of all, to those ordinary members of the public who have come out in their hundreds of thousands to protest peacefully against domestic water charges.

Right2Water are busy making detailed plans for our next event, the People’s Assembly scheduled for International Human Rights Day on December 10th. On that day we will once again protest peacefully, but with massive effect, to bring an end to this dishonest double tax. See you there.